


Danganronpa: Reaching for the stars

by The_Loganator_101



Series: Danganronpa: Reaching for the Stars [1]
Category: Dangan Ronpa - All Media Types, Dangan Ronpa: Trigger Happy Havoc
Genre: Alternate Universe, Blood and Injury, Character Death, F/M, Falling In Love, M/M, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, What-If
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-12-26
Updated: 2019-03-30
Packaged: 2019-09-27 12:08:06
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 9
Words: 41,644
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17161724
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/The_Loganator_101/pseuds/The_Loganator_101
Summary: What if the Killing Game really did have a sixteenth student? Meet Ginja Hoshio, the Ultimate Artist that got accepted into Hope's Peak Academy. But she soon realizes that the school is not all that it seems. With students dying one by one, It's up to her and her new friends to figure out the murders and find a way out the dreaded school.





	1. Welcome to Despair!

**Author's Note:**

> Hey everyone on Archive of our own! I'm the Loganator. This is my first story on this website as I decided to spread my stories from Quotev to here. If you want to send fanart of this story or comment, go right ahead! I won't mind. Now without further ado, I give you Danganronpa: Reaching for the Stars.

Hope's Peak Academy, a school known for being the beacons of hope for the future. Allow me to introduce myself, my name's Ginja Hoshio. I'm known for being the best artist in my school, and sometimes people would even offer me a lot of money just for me to make a portrait of them. And recently, my talent was recognized by Hope's Peak Academy and wants me to join them! I felt butterflies flutter in my stomach when I saw the acceptance letter in my hands. My grandmother bid me farewell as I left and took a bus for the school.

I was wearing my now-old school uniform that consisted of A blue long-sleeved blouse, a long white undershirt, with a collar with two dark blue lines and a dark grey ribbon. A lighter grey above-the-knee skirt with a dark teal belt loosely around it. and finally brown school shoes and light blue socks that goes up under my knees. I was also wearing a blue headband with a crescent moon and star on it that I made myself. I looked into the window and brushed my blonde hair with a blue streak with my fingers. My hair was styled as two bangs (like Momoko from Ghost Stories but shorter) as the rest of it was draped over my left shoulder. My bright red eyes shining back at me in the reflection as my mind started to wander.

As I watched the scenery of town pass by, I started to think about the other students that might be attending the school. I read a thread on the internet that one student is a renowned baseball player, while another's a famous pop star sensation. As these thoughts run through my brain, I wonder if I'll fit in with these students. I mean, I'm just an ordinary eighteen year old high schooler who happens to be good at art.

I felt the bus stopping as a giant building cast a giant shadow over the vehicle. I grabbed my one bag of clothes and another that was filled with my art supplies as I stepped off the bus and stared at the building with wonder. This is it, today marks the start of a completely new chapter of my life. I took a few steps passed the entrance gate to enter the school, but I immediately felt something not right. the entrance started to twist and merge as I started to feel dizzy and losing my balance. I dropped my bags as I felt myself pass out before even hitting the ground.

~~~

I groaned slightly as I slowly open my eyes and lift my head. I was sitting at a desk in a dark classroom with little light. Once my vision cleared up, I look at my surroundings. There were some weird writing on the chalkboard and the windows were blocked off by metal. There was also a security camera in the room too, which came across as weird to me; why would a school need security cameras inside the classrooms?

"What the heck?" I asked myself as I got up from the desk. I went to the metal covered window and tried to pull it off, but to no avail. I messaged my aching hands after my attempt to open the windows as my eyes land on a clock that reads eight fifth-teen. I gasped, remembering that the letter included that all students were to meet up at eight O'clock sharp. I opened the door and ran out to find where everyone is. I tried opening some of the doors but they were locked. Some doors were even duck taped to prevent anyone from entering. "What's going on here?" I wondered.

I see some doors that were completely open and entered them carefully, not knowing what to expect on the other side. I shielded my eyes from the sudden brightness as my eyes slowly adjusted to them, seeing various other people in the room as well! "Whoa, hey! Another new kid?" I hear a voice say. "Excuse me but, are you all the other students?" I asked nervously, not liking how all eyes are pointed towards me.

"Yeah... We're all new here. Today's supposed to be our first day of class." A younger voice replied. "So counting her, that makes sixteen. I wonder if this is really everyone..." I hear another voice say. I can't believe it, standing before me are really the Ultimate Students that had been hand-picked by the school. This almost feels like a dream, meeting all these people, I feel like passing out again. But I know that won't help with anything. I looked at everyone, registering their faces into my mind as I opened my mouth to speak.

"Um... hello. My name's Ginja Hoshio. I'm sorry for being so late, all I remember was walking to the school entrance and the next thing I know I was just... sleeping." I introduced myself, blushing a bit as I spoke. As you could tell right now, I have stage fright. I don't like it when people are staring at me, it makes me feel uncomfortable. "Whoa, you too?" A man whose hair was standing up asked. "Things just keep getting curiouser and curiouser..." A pale woman said quietly.

"So strange... I declare beyond a shadow of a doubt that this is a strange situation indeed!" Said a chubby man. I was lost on what they were talking about. "Excuse me but, I don't think I'm following." I said, confusion mixing with my voice. "Just a moment! There's something else we must address!" A boy with raven hair and wearing white clothes yelled, making me jump a bit. "Ginja! Your tardiness is unacceptable! Surely you were aware the meeting was to start at eight a.m. sharp! To be late on your first day is unspeakable! I must report you, and you must accept your due punishment!" he continued, pointing his finger at me.

Surely this guy must be joking, who does he even think he is? "Well EXCUSE me for just waking up and walking around in an unfamiliar environment that I've never been to before!" I retorted back, feeling the anger running through my veins. "Yeah, it's not like she wanted to be late. Cut her some slack." said a girl wearing a tie, walking up next to me. "Just calm down everyone! How about this? Why don't we just introduce each other?" A girl with a red jacket said.

"The Hell!? Now's not the time for friggin' introductions!" Said a guy who looks like a delinquent. "Maybe, but it might be good to at least find out who we all are before digging into the bigger problems here. I mean, how are we even supposed to talk to each other if we do not know each other's names?" The pale woman explained. "That's a good point..." the young girl muttered. "Okay, so let's get introductions out of the way, then we can move on to whatever else. Sound good?" A woman with blue hair said. We all nodded in agreement.

I was still lost on what's going on, but I might as well get to know the others. Even know I already looked them up on the internet, I still don't know what kind of people they are. "Hey!" A male voice yelled, snapping me out of my trance as I looked up. I see the man who scolded at me for my tardiness gave a bow and says. "Please forgive me for my rude behavior earlier, but allow me to introduce myself as Kiyotaka Ishimaru!"

"Well it's nice to meet you too. And I'm also sorry for my rude reply, I guess the stress of the situation right now is just getting to us." I reply, rubbing the back of my neck. "You can call me just Taka. You said your name was Ginja Hoshio, correct?" I nodded in response as he patted my shoulder and gave a hearty laugh. "What a beautiful name indeed! You should thank your parents for giving you such a name!" I felt my body stiffen when he mentioned my parents, tears threatening to appear from my eyes. Taka must've caught on to my change in behavior and asked. "Something wrong?"

"I... I'm sorry, but I've gotta go!" I replied, pushing his arm away and hiding my face in my arms. I wiped the tears away with my sleeve as I took a few deep breaths to calm down. If only I really could see my parents right now. I accidentally bumped into somebody and I fell to the ground. "I'm sorry, are you okay?" Another male voice asked. "No, I should be the one apologizing since I bumped into-" I stopped my sentence when I got a good look of his face.

the male had dyed red spiked hair, a goatee, and pale blue eyes. He wears a white blazer jacket with a popped collar, a white shirt with a red grunge skull design, dark blue jeans and white platform shoes with a black sole. He was wearing a padlocked chain necklace, two overlapping studded belts, rings, and an oversized safety pin on his lapel. He has several piercings - his labret and six in his right ear. I grabbed the offered hand as he pulled me back up on my feet. "I'm Leon Kuwata, what's up?" "... I'm Ginja Hoshio." Wait, I think I heard that name before... Leon...

I accidentally let out a gasp as I remembered who he was supposed to be. he was part of the national high school as their cleanup hitter, but here... He looks totally different! "You're the guy!?" I asked frantically. "What's wrong?" He asked, crossing his arms and giving a look of curiosity. I blushed a bit in embarrassment and replied. "Sorry! I'm just... Surprised. You look  _waaay_ different than what I saw pictures online of you playing."

"What!? Aw man, you saw some pictures of me playing baseball? Seriously!? I hate those pictures! This is SO not cool at all! I mean, talk about embarrassing." I tilted my head in confusion as he continued. "I didn't have a choice, okay? Shaving your head is part of national championship regulations! But now I refuse to cut my hair. And i'm not gonna dye it back either!" "Well... you look great in red..." I whispered, avoiding eye contact as a small blush appeared on my face. He must've heard me because he also had blush on his face. "I-I'm sorry! Please continue!"

"There's no need to keep apologizing, you didn't do anything wrong. Can I tell you something? I don't like baseball in the slightest. I've never gone to a single practice." This really caught me by surprised. He never went to single practice, but he was their star player. "And as soon as I got accepted here, I quit baseball for good! I have my own dream for the future!" "And what dream is that?" I asked, wanting to know.

"I actually want to get into music! You can feel that star-quality aura I have, right? I'm gonna be a singer, so all I need is a songwriter and someone on guitar and we're all set! This new version of me that's chasing after my dream is, like... Super cool to the max!" I never thought I would hear that coming from a baseball star, but it also sounds exciting. "Well I hope you achieve that dream!" I said, walking away to find someone else to meet. For some reason, I couldn't help but blush when I think about Leon and what he wants to do with his life. Could this be...

I snapped out of my trance when I stopped next to the woman with the red jacket as she puts on a smile for me. "Heya! I'm Aoi Asahina. But my friends just call me Hina, 'sup?" I also smiled back at her as I replied. "The name's Ginja Hoshio." Aoi Asahina, I already knew she was the swimming pro since I created a painting inspired by one of her victories. Just by looking at her she definitely has the body of a swimmer I'm used to seeing at my old school.

"Sorry, what'd you say your name was again?" "Ginja Hoshio." I repeated. She let out a gasp of surprise. "Your the one that made that beautiful painting of me and my team when we won the semi finals last year! didn't you?" my eyes widened when she said that, did she really saw my one of my paintings? "H-how'd you know? It could've been anyone that made that." I said nervously. "Because in one of the corners of the painting, I saw a little signature that spelled GH. And since your name Is Ginja Hoshio, It was easy to piece it together and remember your name."

I stared at the pro swimmer in shock, unsure of what to say to that. From lack of a reply, she continued. "To be honest, I've always had trouble remembering names. But when I saw that signature and looked it up online, I was amazed by how beautiful your art looked. and your just as pretty as your work" I blushed from the nice comment Hina gave me. Of course, I do get comments like that all the time. But it meant a lot coming from her.

"Well I'm glad you love my work, and I hope we can get to know each other more once we figure out what's going on." I said, walking away to meet someone else. I look around to find somebody to talk to until someone caught my eye. a boy who seems short compared to me and everyone else here with a rather thin and petite build, spiky, desaturated brown hair with a prominent ahoge, and washed-out hazel eyes. He was also wearing a zipped-up dull green hoodie with a red stripe along the zipper, an open black jacket with gold buttons over the hoodie, black jeans, and red sneakers.

I don't remember reading about him anywhere on the internet. Feeling curious, I decided to walk up and introduce myself. "Hey there. I'm Ginja Hoshio, please to meet you." I greeted, shaking his hand. "I'm Makoto Naegi, pleasure to meet you too." He replied. "I saw some of your work online I have to say, your work is pretty amazing." "Well thank you! What do you specialize in? I didn't see you anywhere on the thread I was looking at."

Makoto looked away sheepishly while rubbing the back of his head. "Well... I was just a random picked as "The Ultimate Lucky Student" But I'm actually just an average student. Average on the outside, Average on the inside." I felt bad for this poor boy. being picked to attend a famous school even though your just a perfectly normal student must be hard on your self esteem. "Hey, there's no need to feel inferior when your with me or with the others. We're just like any other teenager like you, take me for example. I'm an ordinary student that's amazing at making art."

"Wow, I never thought of it that way... I'll make sure I remember that advice." I nodded as we both walk off to find someone else to talk to. Eventually, I have talked to everyone in the room. Learning that their names are pop-star Sayaka Maizono, unknown Kyoko Kirigiri, Affluent Progeny Byakuya Togami, Fanfic Creator Hifumi Yamada, Gang Leader Mondo Owada.

And a few others like Novelist Toko Fukawa, Gambler Celeste, Martial Artist Sakura Ogami, Clairvoyant Yasuhiro Hagakure, Fashion Model Junko Enoshima, and Programmer Chihiro Fujisake. And just like that, all introductions are done. "Okay, time to get down to business." Said Byakuya, crossing his arms. "This is no time to stand around making friends like a bunch of dulled-eyed baboons." I glared at Byakuya for the mean comment he made. "That's true. I think someone said something about a bigger problem or something? What's that about?" Makoto asked.

"Well, you see... Makoto, Ginja, you two said a bunch of stuff happened and then you were "just asleep" right? Well... the same happened to all of us." Sayaka said, looking down with worry. I widened my eyes at the information she had given us. So me and Makoto weren't the only ones that ended up like that. "Just after each of us got to through the entrance gate, we lost consciousness. And when we came to, we were somewhere here in the school!" Said Leon.

Just like me, where I ended up in a classroom. "B-but that's just... weird! That every one of us would get knocked out like that..." He continued. "Exactly! That's why we're all freakin' out!" Mondo exclaimed angrily. I couldn't help but feel unsteady when he yelled. "And that's not the only thing. You saw where all the windows in the classes and hallways were, right?" Taka asked, standing next to me. I nodded in response, remembering them when I woke up as he continued. "But instead of normal glass windows, it was a bunch of big metal plates!"

"Plus, all my stuff's missing! Even my cellphone..." Junko said sadly. I quietly gasp as the memory of the classroom came back to me. My bags were nowhere to be found when I woke up and it never crossed my mind. I checked the pockets on my skirt to find my phone missing. "W... what?" I quietly said to myself as I heard Taka speak up. "And then there's the main hall here. The front exit is completely blocked by some giant metal hatch." He said, pointing towards it.

"But there wasn't anything like that when I first got here... What the heck!? What's it doing there!?" He continued. I grabbed onto his shoulders in an attempt to calm him down. "Maybe we got caught up in some kinda, like, you know... crime or something?" Junko asked. "What, like... a kidnapping? You think maybe someone grabbed us and hauled us off and we're not actually at school?" Leon asked also. I froze up in my spot as soon as he said that, the thought alone of being kidnapped was just enough to get me scared out of my mind.

"Come on, don't think like that. Cheer up!" Said Yasuhiro, patting my back. "I bet this is all part of the school's orientation procedure. Yeah, I'm sure that's it! So I'm just gonna take it easy for a little bit." "Oh... So you think they wanted to do something to surprise us?" Chihiro asked, relief showing on her face. Even I was starting to calm down from the possibility of all this being a joke. I let go of Taka's shoulders and breathe a sigh of relief.

"If that's the case, I suppose I shouldn't worry too much." I said, putting a hand to my chest. "Well. If that's all it is, it's nap time for me. I was up way too late last night, so I could use a little shuteye." I couldn't help but let out a small giggle from what Leon said. I too pull some all nighters to finish a painting or drawing that takes the entire day away. Everyone's tension seems to be evaporating, which seems to be good... But then we all heard it...

Ding dong, bing bong~!

We all turned to a medium sized screen turned on, showing an outline of a bear with static in the background. "Ahem! Ahem! Testing, testing! Mike check, one two! This is a test of the school broadcast system! Am I on? Can everyone hear me? Okay, well then...!" The voice was obviously out of place. It was so playful, not fitting with the current situation that's happening right now. I couldn't help but feel uneasy from the sound of it. It was like hearing someone laugh at the scene of a car crash. "Ahh, to all incoming students! I would like to begin the entrance ceremony at... right now! Please make your way to the gymnasium at your earliest convenience... That's all. I'll be waiting!"

I felt as heavy as a statue as we see the screen go black. "... What. The. Hell was that just now?!" Junko exclaimed in confusion. "Well then, if you'll excuse me..." Byakuya said, walking out of the room. "H-hey! What, you're gonna take off just like that!?" Said Junko. "Ohh yeah, now I get it! This whole thing was just to get us all pumped for the entrance ceremony! Man, thank god it was all a joke. I'd be totally freaked if this was all real! I guess I'll head out too."

And just like that, Yasuhiro was out the door too. "Damn, I was totally looking forward for that nap, too. Why'd they have go and kill the mood?" Leon said, walking towards the exit. "Well... might as go to find some answers. Hold on Leon! I'm coming with you!" I said, running up to him as I was followed by Chihiro. "I-I'm coming too!" I didn't mind having Chihiro along so I patted her head as we head out for the gymnasium.

~~~

The three of us had a quiet walk to the gym as we, along with Toko, Yasuhiro and Celeste, finally made it to the designated room. The gym does look like it was decorated like an entrance ceremony, even though I don't trust it one bit. Everybody else soon arrived as I took a seat in one of the many chairs. "See? Told ya! It's a totally normal entrance ceremony stuff." Said Yasuhiro. I could agree with him, but this just proves how "Not normal" everyone in this room were. Suddenly, the same voice from one of the televisions spoke up, making some of us jump in surprise.

"Hey there, howdy, hello! Is everybody here? Good! Then let's get things rolling!" We all turned our attention to the stage where a small bear that it's whole face and body are divided by the center into two parts. Its right side is white and has the classic expression of teddy bear; While its left side shows a more sinister appearance. It is black, has a red horizontal stripe for an eye and an evil smile.

The only parts of the bear that are not affected by the division in its area are the snout and the belly, since both remain white. It also has a large, obvious belly button on the underside of his belly. His protruding navel has an "X" shaped mark on it. To put it shortly how I felt seeing it, I felt completely dumbfounded. "Huh? A... teddy bear?" Chihiro asked. "I'm not a teddy bear." It said, it's voice leaning on the feeling annoyed side. "Woah! It can talk!?" I exclaimed in shock, getting out of my seat. "Of course I can! I... am... Monokuma! And I'm this school's headmaster!"

If there was a list of the weirdest things I ever experienced in my life, this would be at the top. I rubbed my eyes to see if my eyes were just playing tricks in me, but what I was seeing was one-hundred percent real. "Nice to meet you all!" It said, acting like everything was completely normal. "It's still bothering me how this bear can talk..." I said quietly. "Calm down! I'm sure there's just a speaker inside it." Said Taka.

"I told you already, I'm not a teddy bear... I'm Monokuma! And I'm your headmaster!" Monokuma said, raising his arms up while trying to look menacing. "Waaaaah! It moved!" Said Hifumi, freaking out. "Seriously man, calm down! It's prolly just a remote control toy or something." Mondo said. "How dare you compare me to a child's plaything! You've cut me deep. Deeper than the Marina Trench..." Said Monokuma, looking sad. "My remote control system is so complex, even the folks at NASA can't recreate or even comprehand it!" He continued.

"Ah, but don't make me say stuff that might destroy NASA's dreams. I just couldn't BEAR that!" I cringed as I facepalmed at the joke he made. " _Bear_  that? Really? You are... unfortunate." Said Celeste. "Now then, moving on! We really must hurry and get started." Monokuma said, ignoring the gambler. "Giving up already? No other stupid bear puns?" Said Junko. "Quiet down now, quiet down. Ah, okay, so... Everyone! Stand at attention and bow! And... Good Morning!" He said.

"Good Morning!!!" Taka yelled passionately, bowing. "Y-you don't have to s-say it back..." Said Toko. "Now then, let us commence with a most noteworthy and memorable entrance ceremony! First, let's talk a bit about your school life here will be like. Now, ah, make no mistake- you few students, so full of potential, represent the hope of the world. And to protect such splendid hope... You will all live a communal life together solely within the confines of this school!" I felt the pit of my stomach drop when Monokuma said those words, what does he mean by living together within the confines of the school?

"Everyone will live in harmony together, and adhere to the rules and regulations of the school. Ah, now then... regarding the end date for this communal life... There isn't one! In other words, you'll all be here until the day you die! Such is the school life you've been assigned." Monokuma explained, much to everyone's dismay. "Wh-what did he just say? Until the day we d-die...?" Toko asked nervously, her hands fidgeting.

"Oh, but fear not! We have quite an abundant budget, so you won't lack for all the common conveniences." He said. "That's the least of our worries right now!" Said Sayaka. "Yeah, what the hell? You're saying I have to live here forever? You're screwing with us, right?" Junko said, obviously not happy. "I am not screwing with you! I am no liar, of that you can be 100% sure. Ah, and just for your information... you're completely cut off from the outside world. So you don't have to worry about that dirty dirty land beyond these walls ever again!" Monokuma explained.

"Cut off...? So all those metal plates all over the school..." Makoto said, making all of us think back to the sealed windows. "They're there to keep us trapped in here?" Makoto asked. "That's exactly what they're there for. No matter now much you may yell or scream for help... help will not come. So with all of that in mind, feel free to live out your life here with reckless abandon!" Said Monokuma.

"Come on, what the hell is this? I don't care if the school or whoever else is behind it all, this is just a really bad joke." Leon said. "Yeah! Cut this shit out! It isn't funny anymore!" Mondo agreed. "You keep saying this is a lie, or a joke. A bunch of skeptics, all of you. But I guess you can't help it, huh? You all grew up in an age where you're taught to doubt your neighbor... Well, you'll have plenty of time to find out whether or not what I say is true. And when the time comes, you'll see with your own eyeballs that I speak the undeniable truth." Said Monokuma.

"Having to live here forever would be... quite the problem." Celesta said, looking down. Monokuma then spoke up again. "Come, now. What's the matter with all of you? You decided of your own free will to attend Hope's Peak Academy, didn't you? And now, before the entrance ceremony is even finished, you've already decided you want to leave? Oh, but you know..." He paused, making me feel like what he's gonna say won't be pretty.

"I guess I did forget to mention one thing. There IS one way for you to leave the school..." "R-really?!" Toko asked. "As headmaster, I've crafted a special clause for those of you who would like to leave! I call it... the graduation clause! Now, let me tell you all about this fun little rule. As I mentioned, in order to maintain an environment of harmony here, we rely on a communal lifestyle. And if someone were to disrupt that harmony, they and they alone would be allowed to leave the school. That, my students, is the graduation clause." Monokuma explained.

"What do you mean by disrupt the harmony?" Byakuya asked. "Puhuhu... Well, you know... If one person were to murder another." I gasped as I place my hands over my mouth. "Murder!? That's how we get out of here?!" I asked frantically, not believing my ears. "Stabbing, strangling, bludgeoning, crushing, hacking, drowning, igniting, how you do it doesn't matter. You must kill someone if you want to leave. It's as simple as that."

My breathing started to waver from the thought of getting killed in this place. I felt a hand on my shoulder but I didn't bother to look who's hand it belongs to, I was too focused on Monokuma. "The rest is up to you. Give it your all to achieve the best outcome in the worst way possible." I felt a chill went down my spine. There's no way I could ever kill somebody just for the sake of getting out of here. Just when I thought things couldn't get worse, Monokuma had more to say it seems.

"Puhuhu. I bet "that" got your brain juices flowing! Beats the heck out of a human catching a salmon, huh? Like I said before, you guys are the hope for the world. But you know... Taking that hope and seeing it get murdered creates a darkened shadow of despair. And just find that so... darn... exciting!" I felt the hand squeeze my shoulder as I found out it belonged to Leon as he spoke. "What the hell are you talking about!? To kill each other is... it's...!"

"To kill each other is to kill each other. I'm sure there's a dictionary here somewhere is you need it." Said Monokuma. "We know what it means, that's not the problem! Why do we have to kill each other!?" Hina asked angrily, saying the words I was too scared to ask. "Yeah! Stop blabbering on with all this nonsense! Just let us go home already!" Hifumi yelled. "... Blabbering?" Monokuma started, his red eye glowing as he lashed out. "Blabbering, blabbering, what do you mean blabbering!? Stop blabbering on about blabbering on!" He took a deep breath as he continued normally.

"You guys just don't get it, do you? "Let us go, let us go!" You keep saying the same thing over and over and over and over...! Listen. From this moment on, this school is your home, your life, your world. Got it? And you can kill as much as you wanna kill! So go ahead, go on a kill-kill-killing spree!" I angrily rolled my eyes, just wanting it to end at this point. "Alright, come on... How long you gonna keep this up?" Yasuhiro said, stretching a bit.

Monokuma gave a questioning look as Yasuhiro continued. "You got us, okay? You scared the hell out of us. So you can go ahead and reveal the trick now." "Reveal the trick...?" The bear asked. "Yeah, cuz I mean... Y'know, this is all some kinda trick  and all, right? So, uh, like..." Before Yasuhiro could say anymore, Mondo interrupted him. "Dude, shut the hell up and get outta my way." He shoved Yasuhiro aside and placed himself in front of Monokuma, his voice rumbling like thunder. "Listen up, asshole! This shit's gone way too far! What the hell kinda joke IS this!?" Mondo asked angrily.

"Joke? What, you mean like your hair?" Monokuma asked innocently, pointing at the delinquent's hair. Mondo roared out, and then there was a sudden BOOM! I found out it was the sound of the floorboards as he kicked off and launched himself into the air. He flew at Monokuma, fast and straight like a bullet. he locked onto his target as he grabbed the bear by his face and held him up.

"Gotcha, you little piece of shit! I dunno if you're a toy or a stuffed animal or whatever the hell! Either way I'm gonna rip you to fuckin' shreds!" Monokuma squirmed in Mondo's grasp, waving his arms around as he struggled to get free. "Waah! Violence against the headmaster is in violation of school regulations!" Mondo didn't seem to care as he continued. "Shut the fuck up! Let me outta here, or I swear to Christ..." Before Mondo could say anymore, the room was suddenly filled with the sound of... beeping? And it sounds like it's coming from Monokuma.

"What, no smartass comeback this time!?" Mondo asked. Monokuma didn't say anything as the beeping got faster and louder with each second. Mondo obviously got annoyed by it and yelled. "Stop that goddamn beeping and SAY SOMETHING!" "Watch out! Get rid of it!" Kyoko yelled. Mondo gave her a questioning look as the beeping kept speeding up. "Hurry up and throw it!"

As soon as she yelled that, Mondo threw Monokuma into the air as he exploded. We were all stunned into silence as Mondo broke the silence. "The hell!? Th-that sure as shit wasn't a joke. It blew the hell up..." My heart was racing as the smell of gunpowder littered the air as I took fast and heavy breaths. Sure, explosions are cool when used in movies and anime. But when used in real life... I've never seen anything like that before. "But you know... This means that the teddy bear's been destroyed, right?" Chihiro said, looking hopeful. If only it was that easy...

"I told you, I'm not a teddy bear! I'm Monokuma!" Just then, Monokuma appeared on the stage once again as I subconsciously clung onto Leon. "Uwah! There's another one...?" I hear him say. "You son of a bitch! You seriously tried to kill me just now!" Mondo said angrily. "Well, yes. I was serious about trying to kill you. You did violate one of the school regulations, after all. I'll let you off with a warning this time, but you'd better be careful from now on."

I let go of Leon and dust myself off as I carefully listened to Monokuma. "Any naughty boy or girl who violates my rules won't get off with just a little warning." "H-hey... So does this mean there's like, a bunch more of you somewhere?" Junko asked, her voice riddled with fear. "Monokumas have been placed all throughout the school, yes. Plus, don't forget the surveillance cameras installed everywhere. And if you're caught breaking any rules, well... you all just saw what happened, right? Puhuhu... And I won't be so forgiving with my punishments next time. So don't let it happen again!"

"Th-that's not punishment. That's just... wrong..." Hina said, looking scared from what we've seen. "Now then, lastly... To commemorate your joyous entry into our school, I have a little something for you..." Monokuma holds up a small digital pad for everyone to see. "This is our official student handbook! Pretty cool, huh? As you can see, it's fully digital. So naturally, we call it... The E-Handbook!" He throws multiple ones in the air as we all catch them in our hands.

"Ahem. yes, well, moving on... This handbook is absolutely vital to a healthy school life, so don't lose it! When you start it up, it will display your name. Always make sure you have the right one! Now, this is not your everyday notebook. It has so many more uses than that! Also, it's completely waterproof. Splash it, wash it, drown it, it'll keep on ticking! And thanks to it's space-age design, it can withstand an impact force of up to ten tons. Very resistant! It contains all of our school regulations, so make sure you review them thoroughly!"

I never knew how important these handbooks are, but I'll make sure to take proper care of mine. "You'll hear me say this a lot, but any violation of school regulations will not be tolerated. Rules restrict, yes, but they also protect. Society, for example, would be utter chaos without laws. The same thing applies here! Which is why it's crucial we have strict punishments in place for violators. Okay, well... that brings our entrance ceremony to a close!"

He bid us all farewell as he disappears, leaving us all shocked and let what was told to us sink in. "So, guys... How would you define what we just experienced?" Taka asked, looking deep in thought. "How...? Why...? I don't understand any of this..." Said Leon, looking just as nervous as I am. "We have to l-live here forever...? Or... k-kill? Wh-what...? What just happened!?" Toko said, stuttering again. "I... There's no way this is all happening! Please let this be a bad dream!" I exclaimed, hitting my temples with my fist. I felt someone grab my wrists as I looked up to see Kyoko, letting go of my wrists and turning around.

"Everyone, we need to calm down! First, let's just take a second to summarize everything we just heard. Based on what Monokuma said, we essentially have two choices. Choice number one is that we each stay here, living a "communal life" together until the day we die. The other choice is..." "If we want to get out of here alive, we have to kill someone, right?" Celeste asked, finishing what Kyoko was saying.

"But... killing someone... That's..." Chihiro started, but was too in shocked to finish. "We were abducted out of nowhere and stuffed into this place meant to look like a school. And now we're supposed to start killing each other? This is... This is... this is just...! What IS this!?" Hifumi yelled, freaking out. "A lie, is what it is. All these ridiculous things we've heard... this all has to be fake!" Taka said, not wanting to believe any of this. "Right now it doesn't really matter if it's real or fake. What matters is... Is there anyone here who's seriously considering all this...?"

No one spoke a word after Byakuya ask that question. Not speaking a word myself, I looked around at the other. We all stared at each other, trying to gauge each other's thoughts. I could hear my heartbeat in my chest pounding loudly. And that's when it hit me, I realized one of the rules Monokuma laid out for us. "You have to kill if you want to leave" I was starting to feel sick again as it planted within my memory. Questions started to fill my mind as I wonder. Is somebody going to betray us? Am I really gonna have to kill to get out of here alive?... Is there really anybody I can trust? And that's how my new life at school began. It wasn't a school of hope, it was a school of despair.

To be continued...

~~~

Surviving Students: 16


	2. Forming a Team

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After realizing the kind of situation they're in, Ginja knows she can't do it alone. Meanwhile, she and a certain red-head starts to bond.

... You must kill someone if you want to leave. That line kept repeating in my mind over and over as I looked to the floor. Fear seemed to have rested upon my shoulders as I felt like an acrobat on a balancing act. All it took to snap me out of it was Kyoko's sharp words. "So? What are you going to do now? Just stand around and glare at each other?" I could tell it was meant to address to everyone in the room as all eyes fall on her. "R-right... She's right! Sometimes, even if you're nervous and afraid, you just have to step forward!" Taka was right, those were the words my grandmother told me at the times I was afraid.

"To forget such a simple fact... I can't forgive myself! I'm so ashamed! Please, someone hit me! I can't forgive myself! Somebody hit me! Punish me!" Taka yelled. "Jesus. If you have time to yell about it, you have time to DO something about it." Mondo replied. "Perhaps, but... what is the mission exactly?" Hifumi asked nervously. "Idiot! To look for a way out, duh!" Leon said, stating the obvious.

"And we totally need to find whoever was controlling that stupid bear and beat the hell out of 'em!" Junko exclaimed angrily. "B-but before we do all that, maybe we should take a look at the handbook... It's probably best to check out the school regulations Monokuma mentioned before doing anything else." Chihiro said timidly. "I have to agree. If we just wander around this place without knowing any of the rules, we could end up causing something terrible to happen to us like before." I said, walking up next to Chihiro. "Shit..." Mondo muttered, knowing me and Chihiro are right.

"Fine, let's hurry up and check out the stupid rules already." Junko said impatiently. We all turn on our e-handbooks as I saw my name appear on the handbook, just like Monokuma said. From the main menu that popped up, I selected the school regulations icon as the first rule appeared on the screen. I scrolled through each rule, making sure to register each of them in my mind as I read each rule.

1\. Students may reside only within the school. leaving campus is an unacceptable use of time.

2\. "Nighttime" is from 10 p.m. to 7 a.m. Some areas are off-limits at night, so please exercise caution.

3\. Sleeping anywhere other than the dormitory will be seen as sleeping in class and punished accordingly.

4\. Within minimal restrictions, you are free to explore Hope's Peak Academy at your discretion.

5\. Violence against Headmaster Monokuma is strictly prohibited, as is destruction of surveillance cameras.

6\. Anyone who kills a fellow student and becomes "blackened" will graduate, unless they are discovered.

7\. Additional school regulations may be added as necessary.

I looked up from the screen to look at everyone else, seeing the same stormy expression on their faces. "This is Bullshit! What the hell kinda rules are these!? I'm not gonna let them control ME!" Mondo yelled. "Well then, why don't you wander around the school without a care in the world and see what happens?" Celeste asked, holding her hand up to her mouth as if to hold back a giggle. "Personally, I would love to see what happens when someone breaks one of the rules." "But if he got punished like what we saw before, I don't think there'd be a respawn waiting for him" Hifumi said, talking like this is all a video game.

Both me and Mondo shared a mixing look of surprised and shock as Mondo spoke up. "I... Ever since I was a kid, I grew up with my older brother pounding this into my head... When a man makes a promise, he has to keep it, even if it kills him." "... So what?" Junko asked. "I've made a ton of promises that I still have to keep, that's 'so what'! So I can't afford to die in here!" Mondo exclaimed in anger.

"None of that made much sense to me, but you are saying you will follow the regulations, is that it?" Celeste asked, twirling her hair a bit. "Huh? Oh, well... yeah, I guess you're right." Mondo replied, rubbing the back of his head. "Hey, um... I have a question. For regulation number six... What do you think it means exactly?" Sayaka asked, showing the rule on her handbook. 6. Anyone who kills a fellow student and becomes "blackened" will graduate, unless they are discovered. "You're talking about the second half, right? Where it says "Unless they are discovered"? I was wondering about that myself." Said Makoto.

"It's saying that if you want to graduate, you have to kill someone without anyone finding out it was you." Byakuya explained, his arms crossed. "B-but why...? Why do we h-have to do that?" Toko asked, looking nervous. "I don't see any reason to worry about it. Just worry about following the rules as they've been explained to us. Frankly, I don't want to hear anything from someone who waits for others to decide what to do for them." Byakuya said bluntly.

"D-don't jab at me..." Toko replied, her smile creeping me out. "More like a full-on stab..." Leon commented quietly. "Well for now, let's forget all that silly junk about murderers or whatever. Now that we know the rules, let's start exploring the school!" Hina said confidently. "True. We need to find out where exactly where we are. Is there any way out? What about food an supplies? There are tons of questions we need to answer!" Taka yelled, stating questions I was asking myself. "Damn straight! Okay, then let's all start looking around!" Leon yelled also, agreeing with Taka.

"... I'll be going alone." Byakuya chimed in, turning his head to the side. "Why? That would just leave you open to be attacked and killed!" I said, sounding worried. "Someone here might already have started thinking about murdering one of us." He turned his head to look at me dead in the eyes. "Are you saying we should stand around with them in our midst and make it that much easier for them?" I felt my legs turning into jelly when he looked down at me with his eyes.

"W-wait, hold on a second. That would never-!" Sayaka spoke up, but Byakuya interrupted her. "Don't bother saying it couldn't happen. You can't deny the possibility. That's why you all seized up with fear when that graduation rule was made clear to you. Am I wrong?" I slowly backed away from Byakuya as he turned to Sayaka. "B-but..." She tried to speak up, but he stopped her again. "So, I'm simply acting in accordance with what I think it's best for me" "Hold on! Like hell I'm gonna let you run off and do whatever you want!" Mondo said, getting in Byakuya's way and cracking his knuckles.

Byakuya only snarled at the delinquent as he replied. "Out of my way plankton." "Wh-!? The fuck's that supposed to mean!?" Mondo asked angrily. "One tiny bit of plankton, drifting across the sea. So miniscule, so insignificant, they couldn't possibly have any kind of influence on the boundless ocean." Byakuya explained, standing his ground. "I'm gonna kick your ass!" Mondo declared, ready to pummel Byakuya.

"S-Stop it! We shouldn't fight!" Makoto yelled, getting in between the two. "The fuck you just say? You some kinda goody-goody little bitch? Who do you think are, talkin' to me like that? You think you're my fuckin' dad or something!?" Makoto started to slowly back away from Mondo with his arms up, looking scared. "N-No, I wasn't-!" He tried to explain, but Mondo interrupted him. "Fuck you!"

WHAM!

Mondo punches Makoto in the chest that sent him flying across the room while hitting some of the chairs. Me and Sayaka ran up to the unconscious boy to make sure he was okay. We checked his pulse and I felt some relief when I saw his chest slowly rising up and down. I felt a sudden rage boil within me as I got up and walked up to Mondo, mirroring his angry face. "I get that your angry at Byakuya, but that doesn't mean you can take it out on one of us! You could've killed him and you would've gotten punished for it!" I could tell his anger was rising. I wanted to run, but something in me stopped me from doing so.

He balled his hands into fists as he breathing wavered. "Why... Why I oughta-!" "What? You want to punch me? Go ahead. I'm waiting" I said, holding my arms out as I waited for the blow. I then see him turn around and walk towards of the door. "For anyone that wants to come search with me... I won't wait for you to catch up." Was all Mondo said before leaving the room with Hina and Sakura following after him.

Meanwhile, I was just standing here realizing what I'd just said and blushed. I hid my face to prevent anyone to see my blushing face as I felt two hands on my shoulders and Taka saying. "Me and Ginja will investigate another part of the school, you all split up into groups and try to find a way out. We'll all get together later and discuss what we've discovered!" He then pushed me out the room until we were alone. "I... I'm sorry about what happened back there... I didn't know what came over me." I said through my hands as I felt the blush going away. "No need to apologize. If you didn't say anything, I would have instead."

I giggled at his reply as I slowly lowered my hands, making me feel a little better. "I just don't like it when I see people fighting. I'm usually shy around new people... Maybe we should start looking around to find a way out." I said, looking around. Taka nodded in response as we started looking for a possible escape route. After fifth-teen minutes of looking, we found nothing but a dormitory where everyone has a room of their own with their keys in the lock.

"Hey Ginja, I have a question for you." I turn to him with questioning look as we walked down a hallway. "What is it?" "When we were introducing each other, your mood suddenly changed and just took off. Was it something I said to make you upset?" He asked with worry. "It's just... When you said I should thank my parents for giving me my name, I get a little emotional because..." I covered my mouth as I felt my eyes getting a little watery. "They died in a car accident when I was three. I just don't like it when someone brings them up. But I don't blame you, you didn't know." I explained, trying to wipe the tears off with my sleeve.

"I'm sorry, about your parents... My mother's dead as well..." He said, looking down at the ground. "I'm sorry." We stayed silent until we reached the dining area, the place where we decided to meet up at and went through, seeing Makoto and Sayaka inside. "Ah, Makoto! Sayaka! So you two got here first, huh? Too bad... I was sure we'd beat everyone here." Taka said, admitting defeat. "It's alright Taka. I'm sure we'll be the first ones here if we work hard enough."

"Well I won't give up! Next time, I swear I'll win no matter what it takes! Justice shall always prevail!" Taka declared. "That's a bit much, don't you think?" Sayaka asked, giving a smile. I rolled my eyes as I walked up to Makoto with a worried expression. "Are you okay? Did that punch leave a bruise?" I asked, inspecting him carefully. "I'm okay, it didn't leave anything too bad." Makoto replied, placing a hand where Mondo punched him. And soon after that, everybody else came strolling in one after another. And after a few minutes, everyone had gathered in the dining hall.

Everyone, with the exception of Byakuya and Toko, gathered around a table as I took a seat in between Sayaka and Chihiro. "Okay! Looks like everyone's here. Time to start the meeting!" He declared. "Let's all go around and share what we found during our respective investigations! The sooner we find out what's going on, the sooner we get out of here!" "Wait, hold on a sec!" Junko piped up, gaining Taka's attention.

"What's wrong!?" "What about, uh... what's her name? You know, the silver-haired girl. Uhh... oh yeah, Kyoko!" "What about her?" As Taka asked that, I looked around the room to find Kyoko nowhere in the room. "I think she means she's not here anywhere." I answered, doing a double check to make sure I didn't miss her. "What!?" Taka exclaimed in confusion. "I wonder where she went. Has anyone seen her?" Hina asked, looking at the others. But we all just shook our heads. "Wait, so "Nobody's" seen her?" Chihiro asked. I sure hoped nothing happened to the girl, we don't need anything happening right now.

"Darn it, Kyoko! You're really going to be late like this on the first day of school!? Not only is she late, she didn't tell anybody she would be late! A most unbecoming personality trait..." Taka said, sounding disappointed. "You're being a real jackass right now, you know that?" Junko said, taken aback by his strict tone. "Well what do you want me to do!? Punctuality is everything!" he retorted back before getting back on topic.

"Now then, I declare that the first session of the Hope's Peak Academy briefing meetings has begun!" Taka declared. Byakuya was the first to speak up of what he found during our investigation. "I wanted to try and find come clue as to who's responsible for imprisoning us here... But unfortunately, I made no such discoveries. That's all from me..." "Really? That's it?" Taka asked. "If I'd uncovered anything, naturally I would have more to say. But I didn't. So I don't." Byakuya replied, turning away from the raven haired student. "R-right, understood..." Said Taka.

I was next to speak up to what we found. "Me and Taka spent some time looking around the Dormitory. There we discovered there's a room for each of us." "Well yeah, I figured that out before anything else..." Hina replied. "Each door already has a nameplate on it, so I guess all the rooms have been assigned already." Said Junko. "And each room key was attached to a keychain with the owner's name precision-etched onto it" Sakura said also.

"And Chihiro and I found out that all the rooms are totally soundproof." Said Junko. "Your next-door neighbor could scream their lungs out, and you wouldn't hear a thing..." Chihiro said timidly. "Well, each room also had a private bathroom, which could also lock." Said Celeste. "But it looked like there were only locks on the bathrooms in the girl's dorms." Said Junko. "Okay, so they got a bunch of rooms ready for us. They're assuming we're gonna be here a while." Mondo said, crossing his arms and leaning back in his chair.

"Well, better to have than have not! At least we don't have to worry about surviving like wild animals." Taka said, proving a point. "Th-that can't be all you have to r-report, can it Ms. A-Artsy?" Toko asked. I thought back to me and Taka investigating the Dormitory but found nothing else. "... That's all me and Taka found. Did anybody else find anything?" I asked, sinking in my seat a bit.

"We went all up and down the school, double-checking the windows in all the hallways and classes. We wanted to see if we could get any of those metal plates to come off. And what happens was..." "Nothing. Not a damn thing. We couldn't get a single one to budge even a little bit." Leon said, finishing what Junko was gonna say. "There wasn't any hope of escape anywhere... The school really has been cut off." Chihiro said also, looking like she was about to cry. "This sucks... It *really* sucks! It sucks sucks sucks sucks SUCKS! What the hell are we gonna do!?" Junko asked frantically.

"Goddamn, calm down! You're starting to make me nervous!" Leon replied. Even though I was starting to get a little uneasy myself, at least Leon and his group had better luck finding something better than me and Taka. As the meeting went on, the others shared what they discovered. Hina, Sakura and Mondo tried to find a way to communicate to the outside world and open the metal hatch. But even with Mondo and Sakura combined, they couldn't get it to budge.

Celeste, Toko and Hifumi spent most of their time in the gym, causing an argument between Toko and Junko to break out. And Sayaka found out that there's plenty of food in the kitchen and that it gets restocked, reassuring everyone from the possibility of starving to death. Any other conversation was halted when Kyoko entered the room while holding a piece of paper. "Kyoko! Where the heck have you been!? We already started the meeting without you!" Taka scolded, pointing a finger at her. She didn't say anything and instead drop the paper on the table for everyone to see.

"What's this?" Makoto asked. "It appears to be a map of Hope's Peak Academy." She replied. "A map...?" I asked quietly. "What the...? Where did you find this?" Taka asked also. "It doesn't matter where I found it." Kyoko answered, moving a bit of her hair behind her ear. "It DOES matter! You're really freaking us out right now!" Taka exclaimed angrily. Junko shoved him aside as she walked up to Kyoko. "Never mind that. What's it mean?"

"Just look at it. The building we're in right now is laid out in precisely the same way as Hope's Peak Academy." Kyoko explained. So this place really is Hope's Peak, the place that was meant to be a school for hopeful individuals. "But then... this really is Hope's Peak. We didn't get kidnapped and taken to some other place..." Said Chihiro. "So stupid it's not even. *This* Is where the country's future elite are supposed to come and learn?" Mondo asked. "But if this really Hope's Peak, where are all the other students?" Hina asked also. "Hey, come on, guys. Let's just stop talking about all this... you know, negative stuff..." Yasuhiro said.

"But aren't you worried? Thing's don't look so good." Makoto said. "Worried? What's there to be worried about? I mean, this was all planned out, right? The people in charge of Hope's Peak put all this together, right?" He still believes this is all a joke? "Man, if I stressed every time something like this happened, I'd have ectoplasm shooting out of my mouth! Good things come to those who wait, right? So we just gotta chill and everything'll work itself out!"

Celeste was laughing a bit to herself as all eyes fall on her. "Wh-why are you laughing? What's so funny!?" Toko asked nervously. "I am just happy, that is all. It seems splitting up to investigate was a good idea, after all." "Haven't you b-been listening!? Looking around was t-total waste of t-time!" Toko exclaimed angrily, her stuttering showing. "We d-didn't find a way out, didn't f-find who's behind this. We still have no idea what's g-going on!" "Huh? Is it not crystal clear to you what's going on? It is obvious that we have been imprisoned in some secret location, with no way out." Celeste explained.

None of us had a reply to what she said, not wanting t believe it. Toko grabbed her head and her glasses were off kilter as she replied. "You didn't h-have to go and s-say that. I w-was trying not to th-think about it... N-no way out... We're t-trapped here. What are w-we supposed to d-do...?" "It's very simple. If you want to leave, you just have to kill-" But before Byakuya could finish his sentence, Junko interrupted him.

"Don't even joke about that!" Junko exclaimed angrily. "Everyone just calm down, please! We need to stop and think about what to do from here!" Sayaka called out. "There's gotta be *something* we can do..." Leon said sadly. "All we can do is adapt. Adapt to living out lives here from now on." Said Celeste. Adapt... Even though that's a slight possibility to do for now, I still want to find a way out of here and get back to my grandmother. At the end of the meeting we all agree to not leave our dorms during nighttime. I went back to my dorm and locked the door behind me as I looked around.

It looks like any other dorm room but a bit more luxurious. My eyes landed on the side of the bed where my missing bags were placed. I quickly dug through my bags to find everything I have packed were still inside, even my art supplies. Just when I got up on my feet I heard a bell ringing and the monitor turning on.

Ding dong, bing bong~!

Mm, ahem, this is a school announcement. It is now 10 p.m. As such, it is officially nighttime. Soon the doors to the dining hall will be locked, and entry at that point is strictly prohibited. Okay then... Sweet dreams, everyone! Good night, sleep tight, don't let the bed bugs bite...

Well, it's officially nighttime. No other thing to do than to hit the hay. I climbed onto my bed as kicked off my shoes and fell into a deep sleep. I never would've guessed this is how my first day at Hope's Peak would turn out. That's leave me wondering... How's my grandmother doing? I hope she and our cat Jewel are at least okay...

~~~

Ding dong, bing bong~!

Good morning, everyone! It is now 7 a.m. and nighttime of officially over! Time to rise and shine! Get ready to greet another beee-yutiful day!

"Mmmm... I don't wanna get up Granny..." I mumbled as I hid my face under the pillow. Immediately the memories of yesterday came back to me as I shot up and looked around. Sadly, I was still in my dorm room instead of my old room. I got out of bed, stretched my body as I head for the bathroom to take a shower. After taking a quick shower, I was drying my hair when I heard my doorbell ringing. I was curious to see who it was so I quickly put on my green eye-shadow and my school's uniform as I answered the door. "L-Leon? What're you doing here?" I asked, not expecting it to be him.

"Well, I just wondering if... If you would like to hang out. Y'know, just the two of us?" He asked shyly, blushing a bit. I blushed a bit also. This was not how I expected to spend my morning to start out, but I couldn't refuse. "S-Sure. I was just on my way to go get some breakfast. Wanna come?" I asked. "Sure, I could go for some grub." He replied as we make our way to the dining hall. We spent the entire noon in the dining hall just talking and having breakfast.

"Hey, about what happened yesterday between you and Mondo." He started. I blushed a little bit and hid my face in my hands. "Yeah, I'm so sorry for causing a scene like that. It was really rude of me to-" "No no, what I was gonna say was it was badass of you stand up to someone like Mondo." He said. I lifted my head out of my hand and looked at him. "Oh please. I'm anything but that." "Don't be so modest. Back where I live, I rarely see girls with spunk like yours." That comment made me feel better about standing my ground, but also reminded myself to apologize to Mondo when I get the chance.

"So... what was it like to be apart of a baseball team?" I asked, wanting to know a bit more about his talent. "Man, it was the worst. I even had to have my head shaved right before every baseball game!" He ranted. "I can understand why you hate that. You probably don't look good with a shaved head." "Finally! Someone that gets it! I wouldn't play but the coach and teachers practically begged me. They even made me shave my head, just cuz it's "tradition" How's that fair!?"

"You really hate baseball that much?" I asked. "Damn straight I do! Who has fun running around on a dusty field for three hours!? It's so not cool! Spending all that time at practice, getting covered in sweat and dirt..." He said. "I know that feeling..." I replied, knowing how it feels to not like getting dirty. "Was there anything in baseball that you liked?" "Well, it did have a few things going for it... I hate studying, but I still got into this super fancy school on a sports scholarship. As long as I kept playing, I never had to study!" I laughed at his response, knowing the situation exactly.

"Well, maybe I should head back to my room. I'm starting to feel a little inspired to paint something." We said our goodbyes as I head back to my room to paint. I grabbed a canvas from my art bag along with my other art supplies and smock as I set everything up to start. I picked up my brush and palette with the chosen colors, looking at the canvas with deep concentration. I can already see the painting in my head.

A concert with neon lights shining from the stage. A crowd of people cheering for the band on the stage. What's the band you asked? Why it's the band Leon wants to put together. That's what I'm gonna make for him. I put on my smock to keep my clothes clean as I got to work on the painting. I completely lost track of time as I was too into my work, making sure that everything in the painting was perfect. I breathed out a sigh as I put the finishing touches on the painting. I remove my smock and stretch my body, falling onto my bed and looking at the painting I made.

It came out exactly how I imagined it in my head. I hear the doorbell again, making me stand up. "Who could that be?" I asked myself as I went to open the door. At my door was Hina, who looked like she was ready to go on a run. "Hey Ginja! How's your day been?" She asked. "Pretty good so far. I just got done working on a painting." "Glad to see someone's trying to make most of the situation. Do you want to go on a run around the dorms?"

I thought about if I want to run with her or not. But then again I could use the exercise. "Alright, I'll run with you." "Alright! Let's go!" Hina said excitedly as she took a running start. "Hey! Wait up!" I yelled as I tried to catch up to her. We spent the next hour and a half running around the dorms and first floor, leaving me a panting mess when we stopped running. We went back to the dining hall to get some water and ice cold dishrags. "Ugh..." I hear Hina groaned. I turned my head to look at her. "What's wrong?" I asked, worriedly. "Nothing, I just feel so tired..." She replied.

"Well we did run around the place for an hour and a half. That could make anyone tired." "No, It's not that. I woke up earlier than normal this morning, so I decided to do a push-up, sit-up, squat set. I ended up doing a thousand of each. Tired... so tired... I want... something sweet... I want those things you get when you mix flour, sugar, butter and eggs, then deep fry 'em..." The thing Hina wants to eat sounds a lot like...

"You're talking about donuts. Your hungry for some?" I asked, taking a sip out of my water bottle. "Don't tell anyone, but there's actually a bunch of frozen donuts in the warehouse! Throw those in the microwave for a few seconds and just imagine... Imagine the warm chewiness of that donut! You know what I'm saying, right? You'd eat the crap outta that, right!?" She said, getting passionate just talking about them. "You really love donuts, do you?" "Is there anyone who doesn't? Who on Earth - no, who in the whole universe can say they hate donuts!?"

"Not anybody I know." I replied, not wanting to feel her wrath. "Just Think about the sensation of biting into a donut... First the sweetness floods your mouth, then the soft dough cushions you. Next you get that hint of egg and butter, right? Your whole body starts to melt... You feel like you're falling into the center of the donut itself! When people talk about the donut effective, that's what they're talking about!"

"Man, hearing you talking like that makes me want something sweet..." I mumbled, feeling my mouth water. "Ahh, I can't take it anymore! I'm drooling like Niagara Falls over here! Get outta my way Ginja, or I got an uppercut with your name on it!" She shouted, getting up from her seat. "But... I-I'm not in the way..." I replied timidly, getting a little scared of her rage. "Wait for me, god of donuts!" Hina called out as she ran out of the dining hall. I just sat in my seat, stunned with what just happened. After a bit I just smiled and got up to find something sweet to snack on.

Ding dong, bing bong~!

The Nighttime announcement went off as I got back to my dorm room. Today has been... good. It was definitely something I needed to get away from what happened yesterday. I Removed the eye-shadow off me before I lowered myself on the bed and fell asleep. The last thing I see being the painting I made.

~~~

Ding dong, bing bong~!

I stretched my body as the morning announcement went off. I thought about the three people I gotten close with. Taka, Hina, and Leon. "Heh heh. Maybe if we team up, we could find a way out and solve murders when they happen." I jokingly said to myself. And then it hit me. Maybe we could work together. I immediately got to work writing notes on where to meet, along with what time to meet. I snuck out of my room and quietly slid the notes under Hina, Taka and Leon's door and went back to my room to take a shower. Once I got out, put on my eye-shadow and my uniform, I put a sheet over the painting.

~Later that day~

I waited in the shadows in the one of the classrooms on the first floor, waiting for the three to arrive when I see the door open. The first one to arrive right on time was Taka, no surprising. The second to arrive was Hina, who arrived ten minutes later after Taka arrived. they had a small conversation while we waited for Leon, who showed up another ten minutes after Hina arrived. Taka scolded Leon for his tardiness while Leon just shrugged it off.

"I'm so glad you all could come." I greeted as I stepped out of the shadows. The three of them jumped by my sudden appearance in the classroom. "Ginja!? Were you the one that sent these notes?" Hina asked, her hand on her chest. "Mm-hmm" I replied as I nodded. "And there's a reason why I did. Monokuma said the only way out of this school is to kill someone, right?" I explained. The three nodded in unison as I continued. "Well we need to be prepared for it when it really happens. And I was thinking maybe we could team up to solve them and find a way out of here."

The others looked at each other, wondering if this group could get along. I was starting to feel anxious until they looked back at me. "We'll join." They all said. A smile formed onto my face as I trapped all three of them in a hug. "Thank you all so much! Let's do our best to get along and find a way to escape this place." I said, not letting my grip get tighter. After a bit of time has passed, we decided to go back to doing our own thing while search for clues on how to escape.

I grabbed onto Leon's as I looked at him in the eyes. "Come to my dorm room. There's something I want to show you." Was all I said before dragging him into my room. He looked around in amusement as he turned to face me. "Nice room. Very you." He said. "Why thank you." I replied back as I walk over the sheet. "I made this just yesterday inspired by your dream to be a musician. Think of it as a... glimpse of the future if we get out of here." I said, gripping the sheets. I pulled the sheets off to show him the painting that was created the day before.

He gasped in surprise as he slowly walked towards the painting as he took a good look at the painting. "You... you made this...? I mean, I get your the Ultimate Artist and all..." His grin slowly went to a frown as he stared at the painting. "What's wrong Leon? You don't like it?" I asked worriedly. "No no! It's not the painting. This is literally the coolest thing anyone has ever done for me. It's just..." "Just what?"

"... Let's play baseball!" He suddenly yelled. "What!?" "Kidding, kidding! That was a joke. Super joke! I hate baseball, remember?... Ahh..." He trailed off, looking deep in thought. He didn't sound like he was joking there, making me think of a possible thought that's bothering him. "Leon, do you...want to start playing baseball again?" I asked. "Wh-What are you talking about!? Don't be stupid...! I, like, don't like it at all! ... is what I thought. But actually... This is the longest I've ever gone without playing, ya know? I mean, I was so good, they forced me to play like, all the time."

"And being away from the game for so long has made you realize how you really feel?" I asked as we sat down on my bed. "Dammit! It's like mind control! Baseball brainwashed me! But fine, whatever! I just wanna throw the ball around a little! But I can't play baseball by myself! Ghhh... I never shoulda come to this school!" He admitted sadly. "L-Leon..." I firmly grasped his hands into mine as I looked at him with a mix of stern and hope.

"You shouldn't give up on your dream of music! But that doesn't mean you should give up on baseball entirely! If you want to play baseball? I'll be more than happy to play with you. No matter how dirty I'll get!" I said confidently, not letting my grip loosen. Leon stared at me with a surprised look on his face, completely caught off guard of what I said. "G-Ginja..." He managed to say through his shock. He gave my hands a squeeze before replying. "You... you're right. I shouldn't let my talent get in the way of what I really want to do. And besides, it's not like I'm gonna play forever."

I let out a laugh as we get up. "How about we go to the gym and throw a baseball around. Just the two of us." I suggested. "Sounds good. I have one back in my room. I'll go get it." "Sounds fair. I'll be waiting in the gym." I open the door as I started heading my way towards the gym. As I made my way there, I saw Makoto and Sayaka walking hand and hand together. I smiled, glad to see Makoto and Sayaka bonding.

~~~

Me and Leon spent the rest of the day throwing the baseball back and forth at each other. Having a lot of fun and even throwing the ball at the metal plates.

Ding dong, bing bong~!

The nighttime announcement went off as we said goodnight and went to our dorm rooms. This day has been a good one! I made an investigation team with my new friends, I gotten to know Leon more. Maybe we'll even find out who's behind all this and find a way out of here. But for now I just wanna sleep. I kick off my shoes and climbed into bed, falling asleep soon after.

~~~

Surviving Students: 16

~~~

TBC...


	3. The First Killing

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Now here's where the story starts to pick up...

Ding dong, bing bong~!

I was already up by the time the morning announcement came on. I just got done putting on my eye-shadow and was about to head out, not before my doorbell ring. "Who could that be?" I asked aloud. I opened the door to see Taka entering my room. "A fantastic morning, isn't it!?" "Taka? What're you doing here?" "No matter how intensely the stormy seas may batter me, I will not fall as long as my feet are firmly planted! You agree, right?" I tilted my head in confusion, not sure what he's getting at. "I'm... not following what you're saying..."

"And if you can't do it alone, just find someone to support you, and you can support them back!" He probably caught on that I wasn't getting what he was saying and just got to the point. "I was thinking about it last night, and... I decided we all need to really come together. And that was when I realized. Every morning from now on, after the morning announcement, everyone should have breakfast together!"

"That sounds like a good idea. That way we can keep track of everyone in the morning." I replied. "Well now is the beginning of that faithful day! Please head to the dining hall at your earliest convenience! That's all for now! I have to go let everyone one else know the good news!" He said as he walked out of my room, not waiting for me to reply. I might as well head on over to the dining hall so Taka won't get angry. I went on over to the dining hall along with Leon, Junko and Toko as everyone else came as well. "Okay, looks like everyone's here. So then, let's begin our very first breakfast meeting!"

We all took our seats as Kiyotaka started the meeting. "Everyone, thank you for making time in your busy schedules to come together. I know I already mentioned this earlier, but... In order to get out of here, it is essential that we all cooperate with each other. And the first step is this breakfast meeting, to allow us to become friends and build trust. So from now on, let's all meet here in the dining hall every morning after the morning announcement! Now then, let's eat!"

As we ate our breakfast, we started talking about the one that trapped us here could be the famous serial killer Genocide Jack. As we were starting to fear that possibility, it was Hina that told us to stay positive and that the police will be on their way to save us. But there was someone that said otherwise. "AHHH-HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!" Monokuma appears out of nowhere while holding his stomach and laughing.

"The police? You're putting your faith in the police!?" "What're you doing here!?" Sakura asked. "You guys, seriously... Do you understand what role the police exist to fill? All they're good for is being a foil, playing against a villain or anti-hero or evil organization. The bad guys come along and destroy them, and that shows just how badass they really are. Are you sure you really wanna rely on such an unreliable group of losers? I mean come on! If you really, REALLY wanna get out of here, all you gotta do is kill!" Monokuma explained. Yasuhiro then suddenly started laughing.

"What's so funny?" I asked. "I'm just impressed at the total commitment to this whole act." He STILL thinks this whole thing is an act? I didn't have time to think as Mondo walked up to the bear and spoke up. "So, mister serial killer psycho freak bastard... what the hell do you want!?" "Mr. serialkillerpsychofreakbastard, huh? That's a pretty long name! German, maybe?" Monokuma asked, obviously mocking him.

"We know who you really are!" "Maybe if I just ignore him, he'll just go away..." Monokuma said, turning his back against Mondo. The look on Mondo's face was enough to tell me that he was starting to get ticked off. "Hey! Don't ignore me, asshole!" Mondo yelled. "Okay, okay, let's get back to business. Your life here has already begun and a couple days have gone by, and nobody's killing anybody!" Monokuma said, crossing his arms and tapping his foot on the floor.

"Here I thought all you kids were lazy and selfish, and here you are working together. But I'm totally bored!" "There's nothing you can say that'll make us start killing each other..." Said Makoto. "Wait, I think- yes! Ding ding ding! I figured it out!" I don't like how Monokuma had said that. He probably came up something that'll make us kill each other. "All the mystery ingredients are here- right people, right place. So why hasn't anyone killed anyone yet? That's what I couldn't understand. But I just realized there was one very important piece missing!"

"W-What are you...?" I trailed off, too scared to ask what he was talking about. "If you wanna know, I'll tell ya! It's motive! Puhuhu! It's so simple! I just have to give everyone a motive!" "Motive? What the fuck are you talking about!?" Mondo asked angrily. "Oh, by the way! There's something I wanna show you guys! It's just a little video, but don't worry. It's not some pervy "adult" video or anything. Seriously, it's nothing like that!"

"Video? What kind of video?" I asked. "It's a special video for each of you showing what's going on outside the school. There's a special room in this school that will allow you to watch them! So happy hunting!" Was all Monokuma said before disappearing. Everyone (Mostly Mondo) sent Makoto and Sayaka to find what Monokuma was talking about. After a few minutes has passed, Sayaka came back and told us what she and Makoto has found. Inside the A/V Room was a box of DVDs with our names on them. We immediately followed her back to said room.

Once we all entered the room, we all see Makoto slamming his fists against the desk, yelling something about making sure everyone's safe. "Wh-What's going on?" Hina asked nervously. Makoto said nothing as he pointed at a small box filled with DVDs. "Is that what Monokuma was talking about?" Leon asked, obviously scared about what's on them. One by one we each grabbed the DVD with our names as we rushed over to a monitor to watch them.

On the screen where I was sitting at, I put on the headphones as I saw my grandmother and our cat Jewel sitting on the couch smiling at the camera. "Hello sweetie. I hope your time at Hope's Peak Academy is going well. I also hope you've made some good friends and are learning a lot." My Grandmother said sweetly. Jewel meowed as a smile appeared on my face, just happy to see my grandmother again. Suddenly, the screen goes black, making my eyes widen and my smile dropped. A few seconds later the screen came back on, showing the room was a complete mess with my grandmother and Jewel gone.

"What the!?" Before I could ask anymore, *He* spoke up through the headphones. "Ginja Hoshio, a talented artist that got accepted into Hope's Peak Academy, has a wonderful loving grandmother! Who raised her when her parents up and went to heaven. But it seems like something happened to the old fart and cat. What happened?!" Redish, orange, bold and starry text appeared on the screen that reads. "Look for the answers after graduation!"

"... The heck? What the heck!?" I said aloud, standing up from out of my seat. The others seem to have similar reactions as I heard some of them one by one. "What the fuck...?" "Th-This can't be real, right? It has to be fake, right!?" "Yeah, no way it's real. Haha... no way." "I can't t-take this anymore... I c-can't take this anymore! Let me out of h-here!" We all didn't even tried to hide our fear. Kyoko, however, still had a stone cold face. "I see... So this is what he meant by motive. He wants to fuel our desire to leave so that we're more likely to start killing each other" Kyoko explained.

"It is the classic "Prisoner's dilemma." We all looked at Celeste in confusion as she spoke up again "Let me use an example. Imagine two countries are on the verge of war. But both countries want peace, and each commits to scaling back their forces as a sign of good faith. But there's a chance that one country may betray the other, so each country fears lowering their guard. The result is that neither scales back their forces, they both end up betraying each other."

"In other words, the fear of invisible treachery becomes the greatest enemy of stability." Celeste explained. "That kinda sound l-like us right now... Everyone says they'll work together, but in our hearts we're all afraid someone might betray us..." Taka got up from his seat and turns to Toko. "Don't put those awful thoughts in our heads! That's exactly what they *want* us to do!" "I have to agree. This is exactly what Monokuma wants us to do." I said, walking towards Taka. "You two can say that, but maybe you're both thinking that once everyone drops their guard, you can just..."

"What!? I would never! And Taka wouldn't too!" I retorted back. "This is exactly what Monokuma, or whoever's behind this, wants. They *want* us to fight. Don't you see?" Sakura said, making me and Leon loosen up the tense between us. "She's right... We need to calm down." I said, feeling guilt build up in my stomach. "Okay, then. Maybe we should start by all just... talking. Maybe if we all just talk about what we saw, that'll help get everything out of our system."

Junko was right. If we want to trust each other and prevent a murder from happening, we need to share what we saw. I looked over at Taka and shook his shoulder gently. "Taka? What'd you see in your video?" He didn't reply right away, but he somehow managed to speak. "My father... That's what I saw. What'd you see?" "... My grandmother, and our pet cat Jewel. I don't want to believe that something happened to her." I looked around to find Hina and Leon, but it seems like they left the room. I left the A/V Room to find Hina in the hallway. "Hina? Are you okay?"

"Y-Yeah..." I could tell by the tone in her voice that she wasn't okay. "It's okay if your scared. I'll tell you what I saw and you tell me, okay?" She nodded her head as I told her what I saw. "Your grandmother? That's terrible! And here I am worrying about myself..." "It's okay. I'm sure you're worried about whoever was on your video." "... I'm sorry, but I don't feel like talking about it right now. Maybe another time?" "Sure. Right now I need to find Leon."

"If your looking for him, I saw him run into the main hall with the giant hatch." Hina said, pointing at the opposite hallway. "Thanks" I said as I went into the main hall. As I went in the main hall however, I saw him sitting in fetal position in front of the hatch, his face buried in his knees as I walked towards him. "Leon? Are you okay?" I asked gently as I crouched down, trying to look at his face. "... I won't tell..." I hear him mutter. "Huh?" "I won't tell you." He said again but a little louder. "Yeah, I won't tell you! I won't tell anyone! And you can't-" "LEON!!"

I grabbed onto his shoulders, shaking him a bit. "Listen to me! You don't have to tell me if you don't feel comfortable talking about it! But I'll be more than happy to tell you what I saw! If we're gonna work together to get out of here, we need to keep our heads!" I shouted, trying to get through to him. I guess it worked caused he stopped his thrashing and went limp, tears forming in the corner of his eyes. "G... Ginja..."

He buried his face in my shoulder as he wrapped his arms around me. "L-Leon!" I said, surprised by his action. "I'm sorry! It's just... this place... It's getting to me man, it's getting to me. I don't think..." He trailed off, his grip loosening as we both got up. "I promise you, We'll get out of here and find out who's behind this. Besides." I grabbed his hands with mine and gave a little wink. "We're a team, remember?" He gave me the grin I love seeing and replies. "T... Thanks Ginja. I think I needed that." After standing in the room for a bit before we decided to find the others.

~~~

At dinner, Hina and Leon shared what they saw on their videos. Hina saw her brother while Leon saw his cousin. I reassured them that once we find a way out of here, we'll look for our relatives to make sure they're okay.

Ding dong, bing bong~!

The Nighttime announcement went off as we all went to our dorms. "Yo, Ginja." I hear Leon say as I was about to open my door. "Yeah?" "I was wondering if tomorrow, we could go to the gym and throw a baseball around? Just you and me?" He asked. "I would like that." I replied as I went to my room. But as I was about to close my door, I saw Sayaka eyeing us. Not thinking too much about it, I removed my eye-shadow and turned in for the day.

~~~

Ding dong, bing bong~!

I hear the morning announcement go off as I crawled out of bed. I took me a quick shower, put on my eye-shadow and head for the dining hall. As I entered the dining hall, I see that Taka, Hina, Sakura, Chihiro and Makoto were already inside. "Morning Ginja! Can you believe it? I was the very first one here this morning!" Taka said, sounding happy. "Good morning everyone." I said as I took a seat at one of the tables. Hifumi, Mondo, Junko and Sayaka showed up a little later than me and the others did. "Yo." "Sorry I'm late! My make-up just would NOT cooperate this morning!"

"My apologies, ladies and gentlemen. My morning, uh, duty took a little longer than usual..." "Morning everyone." A bit more time has passed and eventually Celeste, Kyoko, Yasuhiro and Toko had shown up. "... I suppose I'm late." "Good morning, everyone." "Wh-What? Is it s-so awful to be l-late?" "I didn't oversleep, just so you know. Nope, got lost! I blame the Bermuda Triangle..." From the looks of it, it seems everyone has arrived.

At least, I think that was everyone. "Wait, aren't we missing some people?" Taka asked, looking around. "Yeah, Leon and Byakuya aren't here yet." Hina replied. I don't know about Byakuya, But... I'm sure Leon would be the type of person to oversleep, but I know he wouldn't be THIS late. As many thoughts run through my head, a familiar voice entered the room. "What's going on? Did something happened?" "Hey man, have you seen Leon?" Mondo asked. "Why would I have? I just came straight from my room to here." Byakuya replied. "did he forget our breakfast promise?" Hifumi asked.

Listening to everyone talking, I could feel a high level of uneasiness rising within my body. Like it's trying to tell me something. "I... I need to go..." I whispered, getting up from my seat. "I need to make sure he's okay!" I quickly ran out of the dining hall and went straight to Leon's dorm room. I had to make sure nothing happened to him. But when I reached Leon's room, the door was slightly open. "Leon?" I called out, entering the room.

I almost fell to my knees at the sight of the room. There were scratch marks on the floors, walls and bed, meaning that a struggle must've taken place. A golden sword taken out of it's sheath was on the floor, along with Leon's room key and a lint roller. As I looked for any signs of Leon, I see the bathroom door was open. Not wasting a second, I went inside to find him. As I stepped in, I saw an scene that'll forever change my life.

Hanging from the shower head, the stomach area covered in blood, and the face showing regret and sadness... Was Leon. His hands were tied to the neck of the shower head with some black rope, and blood was dripping from his stomach. The look of fear, regret and sadness was still planted on his face from his final moments. I just stood there, too traumatized from what I was seeing. Eventually, something finally came out of my mouth... an ear piercing scream.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!"

THUD!

I fell to the ground, red and grey mixing together in my vision as I heard voices nearby.

"What was that!?"

"That sounded like Ginja."

"It came from Leon's room! Come on!"

And then everything went black.

~~~

Surviving Students: 15

~~~

TBC...


	4. Investigation

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After witnessing what's at stake, Ginja realizes that she needs to do some investigating in order to avenge Leon and make sure everyone lives.

I slowly opened my eyes to see a huge familiar ceiling. When I sat up, I saw Hina and Taka next to me with worried expressions on their faces. "Hina? Taka...?" "Ah! You're awake! Finally! Are you okay?" Hina asked worriedly. "Now's not the time for sleeping. Get up!" Mondo demanded, but not sounding as rude as I thought. "What?" I asked, slowly getting up on my feet. "You were unconscious when we found you. Sakura had to carry you here." Makoto explained. "It's no surprise, considering what happened." Sakura said. "What... happened?"

As soon as I asked that, the image of Leon's lifeless body in the bathroom came back to me. The last thing I saw before passing out. "Ghh... Gaaah!" I said, gripping my hair. "H-hey, are you okay!?" Hina asked. "Then, what I saw... It really was real..." I replied quietly. "That's right. It really did happen. Leon... is dead." "...!" I felt my legs turn to jelly when Byakuya said that. A deep, dark wave of despair worked it's way through my body before exploding.

I regained my posture and starts running for the exit, but Taka grabbed onto my arm before I could leave. "Where're you going!?" Taka asked. "I need to see for myself! To see if... if Leon is..." "You can check once, twice, a thousand times. Leon is completely and irrevocably dead." Byakuya said, trying to make it clear to me. I managed to get out of Taka's grip and replied. "No! I need to see for myself!" "Listen to us, woman! Whaddya think's gonna happen if you go out there?" Mondo asked. That's when I got confused, he sounded like me leaving is like I'm walking to Death's door.

"What'd you mean? And why're we all in here? One of our classmates is dead!" Dead, that's when it hit me. He's really gone, the man I've grown close to these past few days, is gone. And there was nothing I could do about it. "None of us want to be here right now either." Kyoko said, walking up to me. "Then... why...?" Before I could ask anymore, Toko spoke up. "Shouldn't it be obvious? Monok-kuma... he told us all to c-come here."

"Well, hold on! Don't talk like that. We all protested it! I mean, we remember the terrible price Leon had to pay... B-But..." Taka trailed off, but Kyoko spoke up for him. "I'm the one who convinced them to come. Right now, we need to do what he says. We're his prisoners, right? it's not a good idea to defy him without reason. We don't need to make anymore sacrifices than we already have." Kyoko explained. I looked down at the floor, taking in what she just said. "... Why should we listen to anything he says? He's obviously the one who killed him!" I replied harshly. looking at her dead in the eyes.

Monokuma appeared between us, making me step back a bit. "I would never do that! If you can believe anything, you can believe that!" He said. "He's here again..." Sayaka said timidity, clinging onto Makoto's arm. "Unless someone violates a school regulation, I absolutely will not interfere. I can promise you, I won't do anything that goes against the purpose of your school life here. I'm famous at safari parks throughout the world for following the *Bear-Times-One* rule!"

"Than... Who did it? Who killed him?" Chihiro asked. "You already know the answer! The one who killed him is... one of you!" None of us replied to that. One of us... killed Leon? There's... there's no way! "Hmm? What's the matter? You guys all look like you're about to see a dove get shot up with a Gatling Gun! Don't you remember what I told you when this all began? One of you decided to kill Leon so you can graduate! Someone's just following the rules. There's nothing wrong with that!" Said Monokuma, sounding a little cheerful. "Y-you're lying... right?" Hifumi asked, looking nervous.

"Of course he is! Because he's the one that killed Leon!" I yelled, feeling tears threatening to appear in the corner of my eyes. "Nope, sorry. One of you is now a bona fide killer. If they wanted to, the one who did it could easily testify to that little fact." Monokuma replied "What?" I looked around at everyone, seeing a combination of fear, suspicion, and confusion. Everyone started to freak out until Byakuya asked Monokuma an important question.

"That's enough. Before we do anything else, I'd like to confirm something with the stuffed animal here. If one of us really did kill him, that person gets to graduate from the school, right?" "Puhuhu..." He suddenly started laughing, making me feel really anxious. "Why're you laughing!?" Sayaka asked. "Puhu... it's cuz... Naive... You're just so naive! You think you can just kill someone and waltz on outta here? You're super naive! Devilishly naive! HELLISHLY NAIVE! No no no, the real thing has begun." "The... real thing?" I hear Makoto asked.

"Are you ready!? Allow me to explain the second part of graduation called... The Class Trial!" He then started explaining to us what the class trial is. The Class Trial is where we have some time before it begins, giving us time to find clues about the murder. We then have to gather together and discuss who we think is the killer. By the end of it all we have to vote on who we think the killer is, winning by popular vote.

If we guess correct, only the killer will get punished. But if we choose wrong... we all get punished and the killer gets to leave the school. Everything about it was so chilling that the mere thought was enough to make me nauseous. "So, um... what exactly is this "Punishment" you keep talking about...?" Hifumi asked nervously. "Oh! Well, to put it simply... It's execution!" Monokuma replied cheerfully. "E-Execution!?" "And by execution, you mean..." Chihiro trailed off, too afraid to ask. Monokuma's eye glows as he said. "Execution is... execution. ex-e-cution! Electric chair, bzzt bzzt! Poison gas, cough cough! Torn apart like a paper plane in a hurricane!"

"S-So, to make sure I understand...If we get the culprit right, then only they die. But if we get it wrong... All the rest of us get... executed?" Taka asked nervously. "What a smart little chimpanzee you are! Look at you, implying you didn't do it without actually saying it! So it's basically what the outside world calls a "lay judge" system, or an inquisition type thing! Which means you'll be deciding who you think the killer is."

"But judge carefully, because all your lives are on the line! Okay, let me just add the rule I just described to your handbook. Make sure to keep it in mind!" I heard my handbook beep as I pulled it out and turned it on, going to the rules to see a completely new rule has been added.

7. Once a murder takes place, a class trial will begin shortly thereafter. Participation is mandatory for all surviving students.

"W-Wait, hold on a second! You're freaking insane, you know that!?" I hear Junko yell as I put my handbook back in my pocket. "A Class Trial? What the hell is that!? I don't want anything to do with that!" "Why not?" Monokuma asked innocently. "Whaddya mean why not!? Why do I have to waste my time trying to figure out who murdered someone!?" "Junko, maybe we should just calm down-" I tried to say, reaching out for her arm. But she pulled it away from me and gave me a death look. "Are you saying you're not gonna participate in the trial!? Only punishment awaits such blasphemy!"

"What? Punishment!?" Junko said, looking terrified. "I might... I dunno, throw you into a deep, dark, scary prison or something!" Monokuma replied. Junko regained her courage as she talked back to him. "Shut the hell up! Say whatever you want, I'm not gonna be part of this!" "Stop being so selfish!" "You're the one being selfish! Kill whoever you want, it's got nothing to do with me!" "The evil standing before me... I'm trembling with fear...!" Monokuma started.

"But I won't give in to such evil! It's my style to stick it out and resist to the very end...! If you really want to get out of here... You'll have to go through me first!" He started charging at us, or... more like waddled. It was almost laughable, but it wasn't. Junko let out an angry growl as she stomps her foot on the bear's face, making sure it's firmly planted on his face. "Are you enjoying yourself now?" Junko asked through gritted teeth. "Are you?" He asked backed. "Huh?" "Violence against Headmaster Monokuma is not allowed. You've violated a school regulation! I invoke the mighty summon spell! Help! To me, godly spear Gungnir!"

And, from out of nowhere, many spears pierced through Junko's body. Blood splattered the floor around her as Monokuma wiggled out of under her foot. Junko looked down at the blood on her hands, shock written all over her face as her body twitched. "Wh...? H-Huh? This wasn't... supposed to... Why... Me...?" She stuttered, coughing blood. She fell to the ground, not moving one bit... I started hearing the others, shaking in my shoes.

"W... what the...?" "I don't..." "This... This can't be..." "NO WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAY!" I just fell to my knees, my voice completely gone from my throat as the stupid bear spoke up again. "Now I am painfully aware of the great power and meaning of a promise... I really wanted to keep a corpse from popping for no good reason, ya know? but I guess you all needed to be taught a lesson, after all, Ahh, what an amazing promise! But now you all understand, right?" His red eye glows, sending a shiver down my spine. "Now you see just how serious I am... Defy me and you die, simple as that."

I looked over at Junko's impaled body. As if one of our classmate's death wasn't enough, another dropped dead in front of our eyes. I shakily get back on my feet as Monokuma had more to say. "Anyway, on to more important matters. I have something I'd like to give you to help you in your search for the blackened!" He pulls out a small black tablet from nowhere. "This little file has all the information I've gathered about the death in question."

He throws multiple copies of them like our handbooks as we all caught them. "I like to call it... The Monokuma File! I mean, naturally you guys aren't experts at this kind of thing, so you can only do so much with a corpse. So instead, I've gathered up everything I know about the circumstances and cause of death. How do I know the cause of death, you ask? Cuz the surveillance cameras picked up the whole thing! I got to see it all go down!" I looked at Monokuma with curiosity. "You... know who killed Leon!?" I asked. "Of course I do! If I didn't, I couldn't possibly pass a fair accurate judgement during the trial."

"That's a good point. The judge has to be able to make the proper decision. That's... somehow comforting." Said Kyoko. "Now then, please put your full effort behind your investigation! After all, You don't have any choice but to give it your best shot! Okay, we'll all meet up for the class trial... in a little while!" He then disappeared, leaving us to investigate the murder. We all left the gym as Mondo placed his jacket over Junko's body, but I don't have time to grieve right now...

~~~

Me, Kyoko, Makoto, Sakura and Mondo went to Leon's room to start. Taka and Hina decided to search other parts of the school to find something, while Mondo and Sakura went with us to make sure nobody messed with the crime scene. Before we came to Leon's room, I went to the school shop to buy everything I need to investigate: A camera, a notepad, and a small laptop built for printing photos on the camera. I was standing in front of the bathroom door, knowing that inside was Leon's body. I pulled out the Monokuma file and opened it to read it's information.

"The victim was Leon Kuwata. The time of death is estimated to be around 2:00 AM. The body was discovered in Leon's room, in the dormitory. All evidence suggests that the death took place in the bathroom. The cause of death is a wound to the stomach area made by a sharp object. Other than that, there are traces of a deep cut on his right wrist." I looked over it a few times, Making sure I know what I'm doing.

"Ginja?" I snapped out of my thoughts when Makoto placed a hand on my shoulder. "I know you probably don't want to go in there, but I'll be more than happy to come with you." He said, giving my shoulder a squeeze. "... Thank you." I whispered, placing my hand on the door handle and going in the bathroom. I swallowed a little vomit as I saw Leon's body again. "... I'm sorry Leon. But I need to search you for clues..." I said quietly as I lift his shirt up. I covered my mouth with my free hand at the sight of his wound, seeing the deep and wide gash. But it makes me wonder, did the killer stabbed him more than once?

I took a picture and puts down the shirt, And then I saw something. The belt around Leon's waist is gone, and was taped to his body to prevent his pants from falling down. I looked around, wondering if was nearby until I looked up. "Makoto, can you give me a lift?" He blushed slightly at my request but nodded. "A-Alright." After a bit of struggling, I managed to get up on his shoulders as I inspected the rope wrapped around his wrists.

"I knew it..." I said aloud. "Huh?" "The rope around Leon's wrists is his missing belt. Plus, there's dried blood on the right side of his wrist." I quickly write that down as I hop off Makoto's shoulders. "... I don't think there's anything else in here. I'm going back out in his room to find something." I said, looking around to be sure. "Okay, I'll stay here and look around a little more." Said Makoto. I stepped out of the bathroom, feeling relieved to finally be out of that room. I looked at the scratch marks in the room, taking a picture to have proof of a struggle.

I look down to see Kyoko crouched down on the ground, dragging her finger on the floor as if she's looking for dirt. "What're you doing?" I asked. "Isn't it obvious?" I watched her actions carefully, seeing her inspecting every inch of the room. I finally realize what she's doing and gasp. "You're looking to see if the killer's hair is anywhere in the room! I saw it in few of the mystery novels I read." I said excitedly. After she got done looking, she stood up straight and turned to me.

"Sadly there wasn't any in this room. And the lint roller looks like it's been used." Kyoko explained. "Do you think it could've been Leon or the killer?" I asked. "Maybe..." Was all she said. I looked around and saw a golden colored sword sheath on the ground, but it was covered with scratch marks on it. I kneel down and picked up the sheath, and saw the sword to it not too far away. As I picked up the sword and puts it back in the sheath, I saw my hands covered in the golden coating. "What the?" I went to the bathroom to wash it off as I hear Makoto suddenly gasped.

"That sword! Where'd you find it?" "It was on the ground. The sword was taken out of it's sheath and some of the coating got on my hands. Why?" "That's the same sword I took for self defense. But when I woke up this morning, it was gone." That does sound kinda off. Once I got done washing my hands I wrote down what Makoto said and left the room, seeing there was nothing else to investigate. I decided to see how the others are doing, starting with Taka.

"Hey Taka!" I called out, seeing him standing next to the trash room. "How's your investigation going?" "Amazing! I've made quite the discovery! But let's talk more in here." Taka replied, leading me into the trash room. The incinerator was behind a cage as Taka pulled out a key and unlocks the cage, making it rise up. "Why do you have that key?" I asked out of curiosity. "Why just a few days ago, Monokuma came to some of us if one of us wanted to take cleaning duty. I was the first to volunteer of course, cause I care about cleanliness as much about rules!" He declared.

"Nice to know. About what you discovered." "Right. So while I was getting ready to throw the trash into the incinerator, I've found some... questioning items." He explained. "Like what?" "Well first, I've found this note." He hands me a half burnt piece of paper with something written on it. "Hey, I was wondering if you could teach me how to... Come to my room at 1:... I'll make it up to you..." Other parts of the note were either smudged or burnt off, making it unreadable.

"Anything else you found out?" I asked, putting the note in my pocket. "Well, yesterday I was just going by my usual business. But I soon realized that the key to the trash room is missing! I searched my room and everywhere I've been but I couldn't find it. But today when I got to the dining room, I later found the key was back in my pocket. What the heck is this!?" He panicked, but calmed down short after. I wrote down everything he said, feeling as if it'll come in handy. I see something glowing from the corner of my eye to see the furnace turned on. "Taka? did you leave the furnace burning?"

I took a quick picture of the furnace before Taka pressed the yellow button to turn it off. "What? It wasn't on the last time I came here!" "I think it's pretty obvious what happened here. It seems whoever found the key probably used it to get in here. And I think that somebody is the killer." I explained, starting at the furnace. "I'm gonna go find Hina. Let me know if you find anything else." I said, leaving the trash room.

I found Hina in the dining room, who looks like she has something to say. "Hey Hina. Did you find anything?" I asked. "Sadly, I only found one thing." She replied sadly. "Anything is better than nothing." "Well, when I was investigating the kitchen, one of the kitchen knives went missing." My eyes widened when I heard that one of the knives went missing. "Thanks for telling me this. I'll make sure to get a photo and print them." I said as I went to the kitchen. I took a photo of the knives hanging on the wall with one of them missing.

I went back to my room as I hook up the camera to the laptop and print out the photos. I reviewed the notes I've written down and evidence I've found to make sure I have everything. "I sure hope we can find the killer, or else we'll all pay with our lives..." My thoughts were interrupted when I heard the bells going off.

Ding dong, bing bong~!

"Erm, so ah... I'm getting tired of waiting. What say we just get started, hm? It's time for the long-awaited... Class Trial! Now then, allow me to appoint a proper location for the proceedings. Please go through the red door on the 1st floor of the school! Puhuhu. See you soon!"

So, the time has finally come. I've gathered all my evidence and left my room, making my way to the 1st floor. I stared intently at the red door in front of me, not wanting to step inside. But I know something terrible will happen if I don't. Taking a few breaths, I stepped inside to see everyone already inside. "You're late Ginja! We've all been waiting for you!" Taka scolded. "I know, I'm sorry. I was just reviewing everything we've found." Any other conversations were halted when a nearby monitor turned on.

"Puhuhu... Is everyone here? Okay then... Please board the elevator in front of you, which will transport you to the courtroom... where all your fates will be decided. Puhu. I'll meet you all down there. I'll be waiting..." The monitor turned off, leaving us filled with dread. Without saying a word, we all stepped into the elevator as it took us down to whatever this courtroom is. The image of Leon's body still floated around in my head as I felt tears in my eyes.

The elevator shook and clunked as it descended deeper. I could feel a bit of bile in my throat as thoughts were shooting through my head like lightning. What if we can't find the culprit? What if we all die and killer goes scot free? What if... Then the elevator stopped, allowing us to finally leave the elevator and enter the courtroom. The courtroom looked... pretty fancy. But now wasn't the time to be fascinated with the decor, because of the situation at hand. "Nyohoho! You've finally arrived!" And then, Monokuma appeared on top of a throne.

"What do you think? Doesn't it feel just like a real courtroom? It's like a Hollywood movie set, right!?" He asked. None of us replied to him except Mondo. "Not even close. It's total shit." "Okay, okay, everyone find your assigned seats and sit down! Hurry up now, hurry up!" He said, rushing us. We did what he was told and went to our assigned seats. I was seated in between Taka and a picture of Junko with an X across her face.

The seats were arranged into a giant circle, so we all see each other. This was it, the very first Class Trial. The Class Trial to figure out who was it that murdered Leon Kuwata. I need to give it my all if I want to save everyone. I need to find out who did it. This Class Trial... is in my hands.

TBC...

~~~

Surviving Students: 14

~~~

Truth Bullets:

Monokuma File #1 - The victim was Leon Kuwata. The time of death is estimated to be around 2:00 AM. The body was discovered in Leon's room, in the dormitory. All evidence suggests that the death took place in the bathroom. The cause of death is a wound to the stomach area made by a sharp object. Other than that, there are traces of a deep cut on his right wrist.

Stab Wound - A deep gash was found in the abdomen area of the victim. It appears to look like he was stabbed more than once.

Missing Belt - The Belt Leon usually wear was used as rope to tie his wrists to the neck of the shower head. There was dried blood on the right side of his wrist.

Evidence of a Struggle - There were a number of scratches on the bed, walls and floor. Indicating that Leon and the Killer fought before Leon's death.

Leon's Room Cleanliness - The room has been completely cleaned of hair. Not only that, the lint roller in Leon's room has been used too.

Kitchen Knife Set - The kitchen in the dining hall has a set of kitchen knives. But one of them appears to be missing.

Replica Sword Sheath - Makoto took the sword from the gym as a mean for self defense. But it was found at the scene of the crime covered in scratch marks.

Replica Sword - Makoto took the sword from the gym as a mean for self defense. But it was found at the scene of the crime with some of the coating gone.

Makoto's Account - He said he took the sword for self defense. But when he woke up this morning, the sword was gone.

Burnt Note - A note was found in the trash room. It reads. "Hey, I was wondering if you could teach me how to... Come to my room at 1:... I'll make it up to you..." The rest of the note is either burnt off or smudged.

Kiyotaka's Account - Taka was in charge was taking out the trash, but yesterday he lost the key. And at the dining hall today he found the key back in his pocket, as if someone put it back there.

Incinerator - The incinerator can be activated via a switch on the machine. But it was turned on when Ginja and Taka found it. It seems whoever found the key used it to get to the incinerator.


	5. The First Class Trial

"Let's begin with a basic explanation of the class trial! So, you're votes will determine the results. If you can figure out "Whodunnit" then only they will receive punishment. But if you pick the wrong one... then I'll punish everyone *besides* the blackened, and the one that deceived everyone else will graduate!" Monokuma explained. "And the killer really is one of us, right?" Makoto asked. "Of course!" Monokuma replied. "Okay then... everyone close your eyes, and whoever did it, raise your hand!" Taka declared. I mentally rolled my eyes at the silliness of his tactics to find the culprit.

"Don't be a goddamn idiot. Why the hell would they raise their hand?" Mondo asked. "Before we move on and start the trial, can I ask a question real quick? What's going on with... those pictures?" Kyoko asked, pointing at where Leon would be. It still pains me to see the picture of Leon with an X across his face. "I'd feel awful if they got left out just because they died. Friendship penetrates even death's barrier!"

"Friendship... Penetrates?" Hifumi questioned. "Okay, that does it for the preamble. get ready to get started! First up is the case summery. Now, let the class trial... begin!" Monokuma announced. So, It's about to begin... the debate to decide who we think the killer is... Anything me or my friends found, anything I noticed... I have to be ready to speak up. Because this isn't about me, or Leon. Everyone's lives are on the line!

~Nonstop Debate~

Kiyotaka: I assert that the one who was murdered was Leon Kuwata!

Yasuhiro: ... Yeah, we know that part already.

Byakuya: And the murder took place in his room.

Aoi: In the bathroom...

Chihiro: So it seems most likely that... The killer must have taken him by surprise while he was in the bathroom. **He didn't even had a chance to resist**... 

Ginja: ...!

~Break!~

"Hold on a second Chihiro. Try to remember how the room looked..." I pulled out the photo of the room and showed it to her and the others. "With the way things have been damaged, I think we can definitely assume there was a struggle." I explained. "A struggle? Between who... and who?" Chihiro asked. "Between Leon and the killer, of course. Leon doesn't seem like the type of person to go down without a fight." "So you're saying... Leon wasn't caught by surprise in the bathroom...?" "He must have been attacked in the main room first, then he ran to the bathroom to try and hide. The killer followed him in, and that's where they finished the job..." Said Celeste.

"That much should have been obvious after taking one look at the scene. it shouldn't even need explaining." Byakuya said. "S-Sorry..." Chihiro apologized, hanging her head low. "...Okay, so what's next?" Yasuhiro asked. "Next is the subject of the murder weapon." Sakura replied. "Wow... this is starting to sound like a real trial!" Hifumi commented. Yeah... it's almost scary... But I need to focus on finding out what was used to kill Leon.

~Nonstop Debate~

Sakura: So what was used to kill him?

Kiyotaka: The Monokuma file said that the cause of death was a sharp object through the stomach. Without a doubt, that was the murder weapon!

Mondo: So the killer used **some random knife** that had on them...

Ginja: ...!

~Break!~

"No. I do think it was a knife-but not just any knife. I'm almost positive it was a kitchen knife." I said. "Huh? A kitchen knife...?" Mondo said, sounding confused. I pulled out another photo of the knife set. "Look at this photo. After the murder, Hina discovered that one of the knives from the kitchen was missing." "Which means that knife must've been the murder weapon." Said Sakura. "But... one question about the knife remains. If it wasn't at the scene of the crime... then where is it?" Chihiro asked. None of us spoke a word, unsure what to say. Some of us noticed Sayaka, who looked scared with her arms wrapped around her.

"Sayaka? Are you okay?" Makoto asked, looking worried. "I... I know where the knife was... and where I found it." She chocked out. "Well what're you goddamn waiting for? Tell us already!" Mondo demanded. "I found it..." She paused, unsure what to say until she finally yelled it. "In a drawer in Makoto's room!" "What!?" I yelled, not in control of my voice. The knife was in Makoto's room!? There's no way Makoto could be the killer!

"H-hold on a second! I'm-!" Luckily, Kyoko spoke up to calm us down. "Let's draw our conclusions *after* we've presented our arguments. Otherwise, what's the point of the trial?" S-She's right... I can't draw conclusions based on one piece of evidence. I need to find something that can prove Makoto's innocence...

~Nonstop Debate~

Sayaka: I don't believe it myself... But I guess Makoto's the true killer.

Toko: M-Makoto must've taken it f-from the kitchen, right? He did it in s-secret, **when nobody was in the dining hall**...

Makoto: ...!

~Break!~

"Okay, wait, hold on. I didn't take the knife from the kitchen." Makoto said, holding his hands up in defense. "Next you're g-gonna say you're not the k-killer, right? Go ahead and say it all y-you want...!" I glared daggers at Toko as I scolded. "Come on, let's at least hear what he has to say." "What if I had a witness. What do you think, Hina?" Makoto asked, looking at her. "...Huh?" "Remember what you were telling me earlier? You said last night you went to make yourself some tea. But when you went back to wash your cup, one of the knives were gone. And at any point, was I there?"

Hina put on her thinking face, probably remembering last night. "No... No he wasn't there at all!" "The knife disappeared while Hina was in the dining hall. But I wasn't there the entire time. In other words, there's no way I could have taken the knife!" Makoto explained. This should definitely prove to everyone that Makoto's not the killer. "I'm relieved..." Sayaka said sweetly, but it almost sounded fake to me.

"Okay, th-then what about this...? What if the i-idiot swimmer girl and Makoto are in it together, a-and lying to protect each other?" Toko suggested. "Idiot swimmer girl?" Hina asked, sounding offended. "Oh, and more importantly, why would I get involved in something like that!?" "Speaking of which, I'd like to ask the bear... if there *is* an accomplice, do they also become "blackened"?" Byakuya asked. "So you ask, and so I shall answer! Each murder is allowed to have an accomplice, but only the one who does the killing will get to graduate." Monokuma explained.

"So in other words, two people can work together, but one of them has no chance of profiting from it..." Said Kyoko. "Then there's no way anyone would work together, right...?" Asked Mondo. "But... what if they *did* work together, and they just didn't know about the rule?" Chihiro asked also. "Uggh, good grief! enough already! No, okay!? There are no accomplices in this case!... Oops! Did I say that out loud...?" Monokuma yelled.

"Indeed you did..." Sayaka said quietly. "Anyway, I didn't go to the dining hall, And I didn't take the knife. So I'm not the killer!" Makoto said. "Okay, so then... who *did* take the knife? And who was the one that putted it in Makoto's room?" Chihiro asked. "Not sure. But it's obvious they wanted to frame Makoto for the crime so we could vote wrong." I said, putting a finger to my chin. "And they had to have someway to enter his room." Taka said also. As Hina proved her innocence by explaining she spent the night with Sakura, I was deep in thought in how could the killer gotten the knife.

"Something on your mind Ginja?" I hear Hina asked. "Maybe... Toko's assumption about the killer taking the knife in secret wasn't completely false." I replied. "H-Huh!?" Said Toko, looking surprised. "That might be true. Cause nobody saw anyone acting weird anytime yesterday, right?" Nobody said anything when Makoto asked that, so it might be true... As if on cue, Monokuma laughed out loud and spoke up.

"Now that we've talked about the cause of death and the weapon, let's ask ourselves an important question: How did the killer get into Leon's dorm room in the first place?" "Huh?" Makoto said. How... did the killer get in Leon's room? I think I have something on me that might solve this question.

~Nonstop Debate~

Kyoko: How did the killer get into Leon's room?

Makoto: they couldn't have broken into the room because the locks are lock-pick proof...

Sayaka: Maybe they snuck in the room without him noticing.

Aoi: Oh! I know! Maybe Leon **invited them over** without even knowing they're the killer!

Ginja: ...!

~Break!~

"... That's it! Leon invited the killer over without knowing!" I yelled. "And what proof do you have to prove that theory?" Byakuya asked, crossing his arms. "This note right here." I pulled out the burnt note from my pocket and showed it to everyone. "Taka found it and showed it to me when we were investigating the trash room."

**Hey, I was wondering if you could teach me how to... Come to my room at 1:... I'll make it up to you...**

"But... Why would the killer try to get rid of it?" Yasuhiro asked. "Isn't it obvious? To hide any proof that they even came into Leon's room." I explained.

"So Leon invited somebody over, who was secretly the killer, to teach him something. But when his guard was down, the killer chased him to the bathroom and finished the job!" Taka explained. "But, there's something that's bothering me..." Makoto said. "And what is it?" Sayaka asked. "What was the thing Leon wanted the person he invited over to teach him?" "We'll never figure out of who's the killer if we can't figure out what it was." Kyoko commented.

Leon invited someone over to teach him something... What was it he wanted to learn most...?

Then it hit me. "Singing! Leon wanted to be a rock-star more than anything else. So it would make sense to find someone to teach you how to sing." "It's true. While I was searching Leon's room, I found the notebook in his room has a paper teared from it. So it's safe to assume that's where the burnt note came from." Kyoko explained. "Well." Byakuya started, fixing his glasses. "I think it's very obvious who's the killer by now... The killer is whoever was on cleaning duty. And that person was..." "W...what're you talking about!? Are you saying I'm the one who killed him!?" Taka exclaimed in confusion, taking a step back.

"W-Well, you were the o-one who wanted to do it m-more than a-anyone. That seems highly suspicious i-if you think about it." Said Toko. "Have you all lost your minds!? I didn't do it! I would never kill anyone!" Taka yelled, freaking out a bit. This is starting to get bad. I need to find something that can prove his innocence before things get worse...

~Nonstop Debate~

Kiyotaka: I'm not the killer!

Byakuya: We can't think of anyone else that can plan such a crime.

Kiyotaka: Alright then, where's your proof!

Celeste: Well, there's one piece of evidence that proves you could be the killer... **You're the only one with access to the trash room yesterday.**

Ginja: ...!

~Break!~

"... No, he didn't." "What do you mean?" Celeste asked, looking over at me with curiosity. "He told me that yesterday that he lost the key to the trash room and couldn't find it. And today at breakfast, he found it back in his pocket. As if somebody returned it without him knowing it." I explained. "And... what does that implies?" Yasuhiro asked. "It implies that the killer probably pick-pocketed the key and secretly returned it when he wasn't looking." "And besides, even though I can sing a good tune every now and then, I don't think I'm good enough to be asked for lessons..." Taka said sheepishly.

Byakuya stayed silent for a bit before replying. "Fair enough. I'll accept it." Well, that was quick... "But... if Taka didn't do it, who does that leave as a suspect?" Hina asked. "It had to have been someone that Leon admired. Something with a good singing voice. Ginja, Makoto, you two know who I'm talking about." Byakuya said, looking at the both of us. "Wh... what...?" Makoto muttered. Makoto sounds scared, like he's afraid to say something. Could that mean...? He knows who Byakuya's talking about but doesn't want to say it! I guess I'll have to be the one to say it then.

"... Sayaka? Did you kill Leon?..." I said, not wanting to believe it. "W... what?" Makoto started, staring at me with disbelief. "N... no... It... it wasn't her." "There's no one else here that can sing well where Leon could ask for lessons." Byakuya stated. "I have to agree. And there's evidence to prove it. Right Makoto?" Said Kyoko. Makoto stayed silent for a bit as I asked. "Makoto?" "You... you think I'm the killer?" Sayaka asked sadly.

"We... we swapped rooms for the night... Because she was scared. But that doesn't prove anything!" It seems he doesn't want to admit that Sayaka's a suspect. Guess I'm gonna have to show him something that proves she's probably the killer.

~Nonstop Debate~

Makoto: Just because we both swapped rooms... Doesn't prove she's the killer!

Sakura: If they really did switch rooms, there had to have proof at the crime scene.

Sayaka: Like what kind of proof!? **There wasn't anything** there that could prove it!

Ginja: ...!

~Break!~

"No Sayaka, there is proof." I said emotionlessly. Sayaka looked shocked at my statement as Makoto spoke up. "W-What'd you mean!?" "What I mean is the sword I found. You said you took the sword for self defense! And when you went back to your room, it was missing." Both Makoto and Sayaka stayed silent at my accusation. "So... That really means... Sayaka did it..." Chihiro said timidly. "There's... There's no way Sayaka did it! No way!" Makoto exclaimed angrily, continuing to argue against it. "I've been with her these past few days! And I know she isn't the kind of person to do this!"

"... Makoto, I know you don't want to believe it, But I'll go over the case one more time so we wrap things up." I said, looking at everyone. "Does anyone have a sketchbook and pencil?" "Uhh, right here." Hifumi said, unsure of what I wanted to do with them. As I was handed the items I requested, I started drawing a comic like a madman. Everyone was surprised at how fast I was drawing. Once everything was drawn, I presented my comic as I narrated the crime.

~How it went down~

"It all started at night, where Leon invited someone over for singing lessons. That *Someone* was secretly the killer. While Leon's guard was down, the killer attacked with the missing kitchen knife. Leon dodged out of the way before the knife could touch him. He then spotted the sword the killer brought, probably in case they lose the knife. So he quickly grabbed it and used to deflect the blows. So while he made his way to safety in the bathroom, the killer slit his wrist. That explains how he got that cut on his wrist."

"The killer, so desperate to kill, forced their way into the bathroom. With Leon cornered, the killer had him exactly where they wanted him... And finish the job... Not wanting to draw suspicion, the killer used the shower to clean themselves of the blood. Once they were finished showering, they then tied Leon to the neck of the shower head with his belt, while making sure not to get blood on them."

"They then got to work to cleaning the crime scene, by using the lint roller to clean any hair left behind. And then, using the trash room key they stole from Taka, they managed to get access to the trash room to burn any evidence. After locking the room and leaving, they walked away while breathing a sigh of relief I assume... But what they didn't know however, is that part of the note they received burned away from the furnace. Leaving an important clue that helped us solve this case. And that's exactly what happened." I turned to Sayaka, who looked scared out of her mind.

"Isn't that right, Sayaka Maizono!?"

~~~

Sayaka didn't say a word, she just stayed silent. "No... Sayaka... You didn't!" "... Yes... I did... I killed him..." Makoto gasped, falling to his knees. "Makoto..." I said quietly, but I didn't say anything else.. "Puhuhuhu..." Monokuma giggled, holding his paws to his mouth. "Looks like you've reached your verdict! Then are we ready to cast our votes?" As if on cue, a lever appeared in front of us all.

"You all have a lever in front of you. Use it to make your selection! Oh, just to remind you all... Make triple sure you vote for someone! You wouldn't want to be punished for something so minor, right?" We all stayed silent as we placed our hands on the lever, even Makoto. "Okay! then let's get excited! Who will be chosen as the blackened? Will you make the right choice, or the dreadfully wrong one? What's it gonna be? What's it gonna beeee!?" We all pulled the lever, voting for Sayaka to be the murderer.

~~~

"Ding ding ding! You all got it correct! The one who murdered Leon Kuwata was Sayaka Maizono!... With the exception of Makoto Naegi, who voted wrong." Monokuma announced. We all stared at Sayaka, who had her arms wrapped around herself while looking pale. "... Why?" I asked, feeling tears stinging my eyes. "Why'd you do it!?" She said nothing as her eyes trailed to a broken looking Makoto.

"I... I needed to get out here! I need to see if my friends are alright!" She yelled. Her friends? Is she talking about the video Monokuma made us watch? "Why Leon!? He did nothing wrong!" I said. "When he invited me to teach him singing lessons, I wanted him as an accomplice at first."

~Flashback~

_"You want to do what!?" Leon asked frantically. "I need to get out of here. I need to find my friends. But there's no way I can do it alone, I even brought you a weapon. Besides, aren't you worried about whoever you saw in your video?" I asked him. He frowned, probably thinking about my offer to save whoever he saw. He turned back to me and replied. "Sorry, but no deal. I would love more than anything to get out of here, but not at the cost of taking a life. Besides, I made a promise to myself to keep someone safe." You were probably the *someone* he was talking about Ginja._

_I never felt so defeated in my life, but I knew I couldn't let him off the hook. "Well, now that you know my plan, I can't let you go." "Huh?" "I know you'll tell everyone what I told you the next morning. I won't allow it!" And what happened next was like you said. I tried stabbing him; he used to golden sword I brought to deflect my attacks; and I killed Leon._

~~~

"All for the sake of framing Makoto and getting out of here..." She explained, looking anywhere but Makoto. "But, there's something that's been bothering me..." I started, walking up to her. "Why did he asked you for singing lessons?" "... He wanted to impress you... To pay you back for a painting you made him." "W... What?..." I muttered. Everyone stayed quiet until Monokuma spoke up. "Okay! Well, anyway. More importantly...! Let's hurry up and get to what's everyone been waiting for! The Punishment!" "Punish...ment...?" Sayaka asked quietly, which turned into begging for her life.

"Please, don't do this!" "No more begging! No more excuses! You must pay the penalty for breaking the rules! Society demands it!" S-stop, please...!" "Now then, I've prepared a very special punishment for Sayaka Maizono, the Ultimate Pop Sensation!" Fat tears run down her face as she fell to her knees while muttering no over and over again, it was pitiful to see. "Let's give it everything we got! It's... PUNISHMENT TIIIME!" "NOOOOOOO!!! MAKOTO!! I'M SORRY!!" She screamed. This got a reaction out of said boy as he looked at her finally.

~GAME OVER. Sayaka has been found guilty. Time for the punishment!~

_Sayaka looked around at everyone in the room, unsure what was gonna happen to her. Suddenly, a chain snapped itself around her neck, dragging her away somewhere. a door nearby where she was taken opens up and we all ran through it, wondering where Sayaka's going. We kept running until we stopped in front of the stage, with Sayaka on it and the form of a giant bear-trap along its edge._

**Maizono Sayaka's Final Performance**

_Music starts playing as Sayaka starts singing, performing as if her life depended on it. behind her was a meter that was slowly rising as she performed. I watched in anxiousness, wondering what's gonna happen to her. After a bit on time has passed, the meter was almost at the top. Sayaka smiled a bit as she starts giving it her all. But as the meter was about to reach the highest score, Monokuma destroys it, triggering something called the 'Failure' condition. The bear-trap slams shuts, killing Sayaka instantly as her blood splashes everywhere on the stage..._

~~~

What we saw... That was the true face of despair. I mean, if that's not it, what else would it be? Monokuma clapped loudly while giving out a whistle. "Woooooo!! What a great show! Now that's what I call music!" Monokuma yelled loudly, spinning around a bit. "Oh... Oh god..." I muttered, covering my mouth with my hands in an attempt to not vomit from what I just saw. I heard the others saying something, not caring who they belonged to.

"Uwah...! Uwaaaaaahhh!"

"Wh-Wh-What's going o-on!?"

"I-I can't take it anymore...! Do we really have to keep doing this? I just can't take it!"

"Hey, if you don't like it... all you gotta do is swear to cut all ties with the outside world and accept living here forever! But that's only if every single one of you can get onboard with that. Puhuhuhu..." His laughter filled the room, while we're all just standing in despair of losing not one, not two, but three classmates in one day. "Man, fuck you... Why the fuck are you doing all this evil shit to us!?" Mondo asked angrily. "Evil!? You make it sound like I'm some dark, awful, secret society type of guy! Or in this case, a dark, awful, secret society type of BEAR!" Monokuma replied.

I couldn't hear the rest of the conversation, I was too deep in what just happened to understand any of it. Eventually, Monokuma left, leaving us all to let what happened sink in. minutes passed by, as we all grieved for not only Leon and Junko, but Sayaka as well. But I was still furious at her for killing Leon. And it hit me, it's my fault... It's my fault Leon got killed! If I never made that painting for him, he would still be alive! I felt someone hugged me from back. I turned my head to see Hina, her face stained with tears as she hugged me tightly. And surely, my tears rolled down too...

TBC...

~~~

Surviving Students: 13


	6. A Little Cheering up

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A new floor has opened up in the school! And tension slowly rises among the students... How will Ginja handle the situation?

_Drip, drip, drip_

Was all I heard as I let the water run on my naked body. It's been a long day for us all and I thought a shower's what I need right now. But I just can't stop thinking about yesterday.

~Flashback~

I went to Leon's room, wanting to see if he was still there. Monokuma mentioned something about cleaning up the crime scene once the class trial was over. I wanted to see if he was telling the truth as I entered Leon's room to see the mess from before was cleaned up. I went to the bathroom to see Leon was gone, as if his murder never happened. I tightened my fist from those words Sayaka told me before her punishment. " **He wanted to impress you... To pay you back for a painting you made him.** " That kept replaying in my head over and over again.

I head for the dining hall to tell everyone what I saw. "Hey... are you okay, Ginja?" Hina asked. "So? What happened? Was the room fixed up like he said?" Taka asked. "His room was... spotless. Like it never happened..." I explained as I took a seat next to Makoto, who had the same somber look on my face. He just nodded to me as we both stare down at the table. I then felt a hand grab my shoulder as I look to see it was Mondo.

"I know you're probably blaming yourself for what happened to Leon. But you can't let his or Sayaka's death affect you." He said, rubbing the back of his neck. "Shit, I'm no good with emotional stuff... But I just thought you should know that since your a strong chick." I let what Mondo said to me sink in, letting it sink in my mind. I shouldn't let Leon's death affect me in a negative way. I need to keep going to get out of here. Not just me, but everyone else as well.

They moved on to talking about what happened today and the Mastermind until I heard Byakuya say something. "Anyone who truly does want to escape... will just have to follow the rules. In which case, the only option is to deceive those around you, and win the game." I tightened my fist when those words reached my ears. I was just about to say something but Chihiro beat me to it. "N-No..." "No what?" Byakuya asked. "I don't want to live... if it means killing someone to do it. I don't want to kill anyone else...!" "Anyone... else? What do you mean?" Yasuhiro asked.

"Sayaka died because we all voted for her, it's no different from us killing her ourselves!" Chihiro exclaimed, tears forming in her eyes. "B-But..." Yasuhiro started, but trailed off as Hina spoke up. "If we hadn't voted for her, then we woulda died instead, right... That isn't what you wanted, is it...?" "She's right. If you heap that kind of blame on yourself, you'll turn into a full-fledged masochist." Chihiro stayed silent, unsure what to say until Makoto stood up from his seat.

"Chihiro, listen..." He started, walking up to her. "You're not to blame. Not you, not Ginja, and not Sayaka. The mastermind is responsible for everything that's happened. We had no choice but to vote. I can't even imagine what would've happened to us if we refused... And in the end, it was Monokuma who ultimately killed Sayaka...! So don't waste your anger on yourself... Instead, direct it at the mastermind!" But before he or Chihiro could say anything...

Ding dong, bing bong~!

The nighttime announcement went off as usual, but apparently there was more to it.

_It was totally obvious before that you were trying to make yourselves feel better and justify what you did. See you, see you, don't see you, see you! That's about how much I can see you, even when you try to hide! Now pay attention and remember this well! The burden of judging others is a heavy one to bear. So be well aware of your actions! Order and stability rely on sacrifice and responsibility of everyone! Okay then... sweet dreams, everyone! Good night, sleep tight, don't let the bed bugs bite..._

The monitor turns off, leaving us all confused. "What w-was that about just n-now...?" Toko asked. "Was he saying it's our fault what happened? That's pretty cruel, man..." Said Yasuhiro. "That piece of shit! Who does he think he is!?" Mondo exclaimed in anger. Eventually, we all went back to our dorm rooms, ready to end this freaking day.

~End of Flashback~

I had gotten done getting dressed and putting on my eye-shadow as I left for the gym. The reason for it was because after the morning announcement, he called us all to the gym. I was struck with fear, unsure of what he was gonna do once we get there. And what came was... unexpected. He called us to the gym to do some basic exercise stretches, with Taka being the only one doing them. "Okay! Lift your arms up, and down!" Monokuma said. "One, two, three, four!" "One, two, three, four!" Taka repeated.

"Now reach waaay up, and bend waaay down! Tighten those muscles! Let's add a little strength, a little speed to those young bodies of yours!" By the time he got done doing the stretches, he hops off the stage sweaty and panting. "Ahh, doesn't this feel just great!? Being stuck inside like this, you gotta make sure you stay healthy!" "You're the o-one keeping us "stuck inside"..." Toko said.

"Don't sweat the small stuff! That's my motto. Whoa, I sounded pretty cool just now, don'tcha think?" he asked excitedly, looking at all of us. "Did you fall in love with me? Am I just to die for? Am I just to die in writhing agony for?" I could tell he's trying to avoid what he actually wanted to tell us. "So... why did you call us here? Certainly it wasn't just to make us exercise..." Sakura asked. "Just to make you exercise? JUST to make you exercise!? If exercise makes you laugh, exercise will make you cry!" The bear then went on about uncovering the secret of the Assassin's Fist if we exercise enough.

"Alright Monokuma, cut the crap." I said, annoyance mixed in my tone. "What's the real reason you called us here?" "Ouch! Feeling feisty today aren't we?" Monokuma taunted, walking up to me for a moment before hopping back onto the stage. "I have an important to make! Every time you overcome a class trial here at Hope's Peak, a whole new world will open to you!" I raised my eyebrows at what Monokuma just said. A whole new world? What does that mean?

"It'd really suck if you had to live here forever with nothing new to stimulate you! Besides, I know how you kids get these days with your ADD and ADHD. I gotta keep you motivated! So go ahead, look around all you want! Enjoy the brave new post-trial world till you explode!" With that, Monokuma disappeared. But what does that even mean? "Is he talking about... a way to get outside?" Hina asked. "That seems... unlikely." Celeste replied. "Well we don't know till we look!" Mondo yelled. "Whatever he meant, it seems we'll have to search the school one more time." Sakura said.

"Okay, then let's split up and start investigating! When you're done, everyone meet back up at the dining hall and we'll share what we found!" Taka declared. "You're a one-trick pony, you know that?" Said Byakuya. "More like a staple food source! Now let's get moving!" Taka replied. Seeing his words as their signal, everyone scattered and left the gym. As I looked around, I saw that the gate to the second floor was gone. Not wasting a second, I ran upstairs.

~~~

Once I reached the the second floor, I looked around to see if I can find something that can help us get us out of here. the windows were covered like the ones downstairs. "... Let's see if the classroom windows are open." I said as I entered one of the classrooms. I see Sakura staring at the metal attached on the windows of the classroom, her arms crossed as I walked up next to her. "So this is what he meant by "A new world"..." Sakura said, looking around the classroom. "Have you already tried getting these metal plates open?" I asked her. "I've already tried, but they're just as sealed as the ones below."

"Oh." Was all I said as I looked around the classroom. "I think there might be another classroom on this floor. I'll go see if I can find something there." I said as I left the classroom to investigate the other one on the second floor. I opened the door to the second classroom to see it looks the same as the other classroom but with different wallpaper and something different on the chalkboard. After attempting and failing to remove the metal plates, I went back to the dining hall.

~~~

After a bit of time passed everyone soon gathered in the dining hall to discuss what they discovered. "Okay, ladies and gentlemen! How'd it go? Did anyone discover anything new!?" Taka yelled. "There's a library!" Hifumi called out. "And a pool! A freakin' pool! And locker rooms filled with exercise equipment!" Said Hina. "There was not, however, anything resembling an escape route." Sakura said, her arms crossed. "Yeah... She's right... The windows upstairs are covered like here..." I said sadly, looking at the floor. I felt Taka grab my shoulder as I looked up to see him smiling at me.

"Well hey, there's no reason to get all sulky! Wait till you hear about my amazing discovery! The Bathhouse on the 1st floor of the dorms are now open!" "A Bathhouse? That's great!" I said excitedly. I used to have a bathhouse in my mansion where me and my Grandmother would go to relax after working on a painting. "You fuckin' people..." Mondo whispered, snapping me out of memory lane.

"Who gives a shit if we have a goddamn pool now!? Or a Bathhouse, or a whatever the fuck! We're still trapped in this piece of shit school! we need to find a goddamn way OUT!" Mondo yelled. "Now, now. There is no point in taking your anger out on us." Celeste said, walking up to him. "Adaptation is the key, yes? For now we must each find a way to enjoy our current situation." Mondo turns his back to the girl and mutters. "Whatever you say, ya fuckin' loon..." "For now, let's just continue our investigation, and let everyone know if you should discover something." Taka explained, looking a bit down.

"So, are we done for the day?" Kyoko asked. "W-Well... yeah, I guess so." Taka replied. The air seems to grow heavy again. What was the Mastermind's plan? All these question were swimming in my head as we all head back to our dorm rooms. Once I was back in my room, I removed my shoes and my eye-shadow and finally collapsed onto my bed.

Ding dong, bing bong~!

Since going out at nighttime is against the rules, There was nothing I could do now. I got comfortable and fell asleep.

~~~

Ding dong, bing bong~!

The morning announcement went off, but Monokuma had more to say.

_I wanted to let you know that your e-Handbooks have been updated! New regulations have been added, so please take a look and enjoy your school life more than ever before!_

I get up from the bed as I grabbed my handbook and open the rules. I scrolled through the rules until I see new rules were indeed added. 

**Rule #7: Once a murder takes place, a class trial will begin shortly thereafter. Participation is mandatory for all surviving students.**

**Rule #8: If the guilty party is exposed during the class trial, they alone will be executed.**

**Rule #9: If the guilty party is not exposed, they alone will graduate, and all remaining students will be executed.**

**Rule #10: Lending your e-Handbook to another student is strictly prohibited.**

I see the rules for the class trial were added, even one I've never heard of before. So letting a student borrow your handbook is prohibited. I quickly freshen up, put on my eye-shadow and head for the dining hall. But when I came out of my dorm room, I saw Taka standing in front of Byakuya's door, looking impatient. "Taka? What're you doing?" I asked, walking up to him. "I'm waiting for Byakuya to come out of his room. We're late for our breakfast meeting!" I looked at Byakuya's door with a questioning look before asked Taka. "How long have you been standing here?"

"Almost an hour..." It took a moment for him to realize what I was getting to. "You don't think... that something happened to him!?" He asked franically. I only nodded in response as we ran towards the dining and burst through the doors. "Bad news everyone! There is a mystery afoot!" Taka yelled panting. "Huh? What happened?" Yasuhiro asked. "It's Byakuya. It seems he refuses to leave his room!"

"We think something must've happened to him." I said. Everyone must've caught on what we're trying to say as Makoto spoke up. "I-It might be a good idea if we all split up and go look for him." He said. `Ah! I was just about to suggest the same thing!" Taka said also. "Stop trying to one-up e-everyone..." Toko whispered. And so we all split up to find Byakuya. Hina went to Byakuya's door while we search the rest of the school to find. 'Come on Ginja, think! If you were Byakuya, where would you go?' I thought to myself. After walking around thinking, I found myself in front of the library with Makoto.

"So, you thought the same thing?" I asked. "Y-Yeah, I also thought he would come here." Without wasting a second, we both opened the door to see an unbelievable sight. Byakuya was sitting at one of the desks while reading a book. A mug in his other hand as a lamp plugged into an extension cord was turned on. "Byakuya!?" Me and Makoto said in unison. "Hey, uh... what're you doing?" Makoto asked.

"I'm fishing. What does it look like I'm doing? I'm trying to read. So if you could be quiet..." Byakuya said, not looking away from his book. He was just here the whole time and didn't even bother telling anybody, makin us all worried about him. I felt my blood boiling as walked up to him. "Just what the heck are you doing here? We've been worried about you! We were looking everywhere for you!" I yelled angrily. Finally, he looks up from his book and lifts his head to look at me. "Who asked you to do that?" He asked calmly. "Because you didn't showed up for breakfast. We made a promise!" I replied

"A promise...?" He sighed as he closed the book he was reading and uncrossed his legs. "Can't I get a second's peace and quiet around here?" He said irritably, getting up from his seat. The others probably heard me as they came in one by one. "Byakuya! So this is where you've been hiding!" Taka yelled. "The heck are you doin' here, man?" Yasuhiro asked. "We were very concerned..." Said Sakura, walking in.

"Well you had no reason to be. I was just reading. I've never read such a... coarse novel before, but it might just prove useful at some point." Byakuya said as he put the book back in the shelf. "Wh-What were you reading?" Hina asked. "A mystery novel." Byakuya replied. A mystery novel? I've haven't read one since I graduated Middle School, but this wasn't the time to remember Middle School. "W-Wait, so are you gonna use what you're learning in there to betray us!?" Hifumi asked nervously. "Don't be stupid." Byakuya started rudely. "It's just something to keep in mind."

"What?" Makoto asked. "If I decide to fight, of course I'll come up with something original. Otherwise, this game of ours will be totally boring, right? It's not often you get to take part in such a high-stakes, high-tension activity. So if you're gonna do it, you have to make sure it's entertaining. Mhmhmhm..." His words sent chills down my spine. How could say these things without an bit of hesitation? And his smile wasn't helping either.

"What the fuck do you mean, "game"!? That's fucked up!" Mondo yelled. "But it *is* a game. It's a game of life and death , which can have only one winner. That's all there is to it." Byakuya retorted back. I'll spare you the details of what happened next. Mean things were said, Mondo almost killed Byakuya, and the Affluent Progeny has made the top of a list of people I hate. Our breakfast meeting ended without answering any questions... We all headed back to our rooms. I laid in my bed, wondering what I could do to lift some of the tension up...

And then it hit me. Whenever I or anybody else was upset, my grandmother would always bake some cupcakes to bring the mood up. I jumped off the bed as I headed for the kitchen to get to baking. I looked around the place as I grabbed everything I needed to make cupcakes. bowls, ingredients, utensils and more. I then put on a nearby apron and went to making the batter. making art is not my only talent. My grandmother also taught me how to bake as a hobby.

Like one time when I was little, I was bullied on family appreciation day at school for bringing my grandmother instead of my parents. It was the worst day of my life... Until when we got home, my grandmother told me we were gonna bake some cupcakes. I didn't question it as I helped her put in the ingredients and stir the batter, making me forget what happened at school as I could almost taste the sweet and fluffiness of the cupcakes as they baked in the oven. Once they were done, we put blue icing on them as we took a bite of the decorated cupcakes, making the day a lot better.

I snapped out of remembering when I heard Monokuma entering the kitchen as I was about to put them in the oven. "Heya Ginja! Whatcha making?" He asked, peering over my shoulder. "None of your concerns Monokuma. Now why don't you go away before I slap you with a spatula." I replied bitterly, going to make the icing. "Now you know violence against me is against the rules. I just wanted to know what you were making. Are you gonna poison one of them?"

I stopped what I was doing as sharply turned to look at the bear. "I would NEVER do that to my friends!! Not even to Byakuya!" I took a few deep breaths as I removed the apron. "If you leave now, I'll let you lick the batter off the whisk and the bowl." I said, holding the bowl out for him. "... Puhuhuhuhu! Sounds good to me! Enjoy your sweets!" Was all he said as he took the bowl and whisk and disappeared. I hear a ding from the oven, meaning the cupcakes are done baking. I took them out and started buttering them. Once that's done, I got to work icing them to match everyone's talents.

I hear everyone gathering in the dining hall, wondering what's smells good. I smiled as I put the cupcakes on a tray and went back into the dining hall. "I'm so glad you're all here. Cause I got a surprise to bring up the mood." I said, placing the tray on one of the tables. Everyone stared at the cupcakes in amazement as Makoto asked. "Ginja... Did you make these?" "They look so delicious!" Hina commented. I nodded in response.

"There's one for each for you. It should be easy to find yours. So go ahead." I said, backing away for the others to get their cupcake. Everyone looked down at their cupcake, probably getting a good look at the design before eating it. Everyone took a bite, their faces lighting up. "Wow... This is really good!" Chihiro said excitedly, taking another bite. "Yeah! It's almost as good as doughnuts." Hina said also. "... I've had better desserts. But for what it is, it's not terrible." Byakuya said smugly. Everyone else agrees as I looked down at my cupcake, seeing another one next to it.

It was decorated with not only a baseball bat, but also a guitar. I immediately knew that cupcake was supposed to be for Leon, I guess I made it without knowing it. I felt my eyes tearing up as I see Taka taking a seat next to me. "You okay?" He asked. I sniffled as I wiped the tears. "Y-Yeah... I was just thinking about Leon is all." Taka gave me a sympathetic smile as I took a bite of my cupcake.

TBC...

~~~

Surviving Students: 13


	7. Secrets Left Forgotten

Later that day I went back to my room and just started sketching. Even though painting is my specialty, I also minor in sketching on paper. But when I got done sketching the hill, I heard my doorbell ring. "Who could that be?" I asked myself. I put down the sketchbook and pencil as I answered the door, seeing it was Makoto. "Hey Ginja." He said politely. "Makoto? What're you doing here?" I asked curiously. "W-Well... I was wondering if you like to hang out?"

I wondered, should I hang out with Makoto? Well I could finish my sketch later. And besides, We both could use some comforting after what happened in the class trial. "Alright. Where would you like to go?" I asked, walking out of my room and closing the door. "I was hoping we could go to the library and talk. Don't worry, Byakuya's not in there right now. I checked." Said Makoto. I giggled a bit as we made our way to the library. We spent the next hour reading a bit and chatting. "So Ginja, you're an artist right?" I nodded in response. "So I guess you must've gotten a lot of art requests from people."

I blush a bit as I twirled a bit of my hair in embarrassment. "Well... There was always someone that wanted a symbol of my talent. At first when it happened, it was kinda fun. I was doing something I loved and I was also getting my own money for it. But after a while, it kinda got exhausting. The work starting to pile up more and more. Eventually from that point I only started taking a certain amount of requests so it would be less stressful." I explained.

"Geez, I'm sorry that happened to you." Makoto said. "It's alright. I never let that stopped me from doing something I love." I replied. We chatted for a bit more as we went to the dormitory. "See you as breakfast?" I asked. He nodded before responding. "Sure." I enter my room as I removed my shoes, removed my eye-shadow and fell asleep on the bed.

~~~

Ding dong, bing bong~!

I woke up from the announcement as I got up and freshen up. I made it to the dining hall for the breakfast meeting as always, but there were a few people missing. "Is this... everyone? It feels a little... small." Taka said. I silently took a seat at one of the tables and looked around. And it wasn't surprising to find that Byakuya and Toko didn't show up after what happened yesterday. "Even the table looks bigger, somehow." Taka said sadly. "I assume that is because three people are dead, and two are abstaining." Said Celeste. "Yeah, with three people missing, I guess it *would* feel kinda empty." Makoto said.

"Still... I know Byakuya's whatever, but shouldn't we go check on Toko?" Hina asked. Just as I was gonna speak up to agree, Yasuhiro spoke up instead. "I vote no. She's super annoying." "How can you be cold? You are like a piece of rock candy." Celeste said, smiling a bit. "What!? No, rock candy isn't cold! It's sweet!" Taka replied. I secretly giggled to myself at what Taka said, but stopped when Mondo spoke up.

"... Anyway, Byakuya's the real problem. If we don't keep an eye on him, he might really kill someone. You can see it in his eyes..." Mondo has a point. With the way Byakuya was talking, he'll do anything to win this *game*. "We got no choice! Get some rope! We're gonna hafta keep him bound and gagged!" He continued. "Okay, I think that's going a bit too far..." I said. "He's right! In this situation, there's nothing scarier than when an ally turns loose cannon! It's just like when we were kids, and someone would go crazy on sports day or whatever!" Taka exclaimed.

"What the fuck are you talking about!? You gonna use the rope to do tug of war or something!? Idiot!" Mondo yelled. "I'm not an idiot... YOU'RE an idiot!" Taka argued back. "Who are you callin' stupid!?" Mondo yelled again. I looked over to Chihiro looking a bit down in the dumps. "Hey, Are you alright? You look upset." I said in a gentle voice. "Oh, I'm just going through a little... self-loathing." She said sadly. "Self-loathing? What for?" I asked.

"Well, after what Byakuya said to me yesterday... I just got so nervous, I locked up. I couldn't say anything. Mondo ended up having to help me out. And even *he* said I was someone who "can't fight back"... I... I hate how weak I am." She explained, tears appearing in her eyes. "Ahh, I see. So Mondo made you depressed." Hina commented. "What!? How is it *my* fault!? I wasn't tryin' to be mean! Besides, girls are just naturally weak anyway right!?" Mondo yelled. I looked at him with an angry look. "What's that supposed to mean?" I said threateningly, Makoto holding my shoulders so I couldn't get up.

I was distracted by my anger when I heard Chihiro whimpering. I turned my head to see tears rolling down her face. "A-Are you... crying...?" Mondo asked surprisingly, his expression softening. "It's cuz you were screaming like a lunatic." Hina said, rubbing Chihiro's arm in an attempt to calm her down. Mondo walked up to the girl and kneel down to her level. "Hey, c'mon, don't cry... I-It's my fault, okay? I won't yell at you anymore..."

Hina looked at the biker skeptically and said. "Really? Not sure I can believe that..." "J-Just shut up..." Mondo muttered, trying to keep his cool. "... I got it! I'll make you a promise of a man!" Chihiro wipes some of the tears on her face and looks up at Mondo. "Promise... as a man?" She asked. "Maybe I mentioned this before, but... Ever since I was a kid, there was one thing my brother told me over and over again... He said that no matter what, a real man ALWAYS keeps his promises. That's what he left me." Mondo explained. "Left you...?" Hifumi asked.

"Oh, yeah... My brother's dead." My eyes widened when he said that. "Oh.. I'm sorry." I said. "Anyway, I don't wanna talk about it. Don't wanna make all you guys cry! Anyway, so you can trust me when I make that promise. So you don't gotta cry anymore!" Chihiro sniffed as she wiped away the last of her tears. "O-Okay... Thank you... Mondo." She said, smiling at him. Mondo stood up while blushing and rubbing the back of his neck. "S-Sure..."

Chihiro frowns again as she says. "But... I still don't like how I am right now. I have to get stronger... If I'm so weak anything can make me cry... That's not good." "Still, don't stress out too much about having to get stronger." Makoto said. "No... I *want* to get stronger. Maybe I should... start working out." Chihiro replied, looking deep in thought. "In that case, I would be happy to help out anytime." Said Sakura. "B-But then Miss Fugisaki would get smashed into a billion pieces!" Hifumi exclaimed nervously. I just rolled my eyes as I replied to him. "Oh hush you..."

I then heard quiet giggling coming from Chihiro, who had a small smile on her face. "Ohh, finally cracked a smile, huh?" Yasuhiro asked. "Y-Yeah... Everyone... thank you." She said, smiling a bit more. I'm glad to see Chihiro happy, even though this crappy situation we're in. After breakfast I went back to my dorm room. "Hmm... What I do?" I asked myself. As if on cue, I hear the doorbell. I get up and opened the door, seeing it was Mondo this time.

"Mondo?" "Hey..." He started, looking nervous with a blush clear on his face. "I... I was wondering if... if you like to..." He muttered the last part. "What?" I asked. "If you like to..." He muttered again. "I can't hear you. What was that?" "IF YOU WERE LIKE TO HANG OUT!?" He shouted. I was taken aback by the sudden yelling, not expecting it in the slightest. After taking a few seconds to calm down, I replied. "Alright, where do you wanna go?" Mondo looked at me in surprise, as if he expected me to decline his offer after yelling. "A...Alright... I was thinkin' we could work out on the second floor."

"Sounds like a plan. Lead the way." I said as we walked to the second floor together. We spent the next few hours working out together. By the end of it all, I was sitting on the ground panting and sweating with Mondo next to me. "Geez, you're already exhausted? You're actin' like this is the first time you worked out in years." He said. "When you spent most of your life inside making paintings and art, the only exercise you get is in PE at school."

"Damn, that's pretty sad." I heard him say. "Oh! And... about what happened on our first day-" I started, but got interrupted by him. "Don't apologize, I've gotten over it. Besides, I'm more concerned about your emotions." I gave him a confused look as I swept my sweat covered bangs to the side. "My... emotions?" I asked. "I can tell you're keeping your emotions inside. Sure you let them out every now and then, but not all of them. The only reason I know this is because I also went through this sorta thing. And the best way to let it out is by letting out a swear!"

"What!?" I couldn't believe what I was hearing. He wanted me to swear!? "But... where would we start?" "Shit... good question..." he looked deep in thought, probably trying to figure out a way to get me to swear. "... Sayaka." He said suddenly. "Sayaka?" I asked. "Let me talk. Just think about how angry she made you. Not only did she murdered one of our classmates, but she murdered Leon. The one guy you were getting close to. Tell me, how did that make you feel?"

I thought back to the class trial, to where Sayaka admitted to being the killer. I felt that familiar burning rage in my chest. The more I thought about it, the more angry I got. "That... That..." I said, trying to find the right words to say. "That's it, say it." Mondo encouraged. "I can't, my grandmother said it's not very ladylike." I said, remembering what my grandmother told me about swearing. Mondo looked at me in surprise for a bit before yelling. "Say it!!" And suddenly, I snapped. "That BITCH!!" "Now didn't that feel fuckin' good!?" He asked. "Yes it did!"

"Ready to go work out a bit more!?" "Yeah I am!" I replied, suddenly feeling pumped up for some reason. Maybe Mondo's right, maybe I should start swearing a bit more so I can let my emotions out. After another hour of working out we went our own ways as I went back to my room. Realizing how much I reek, I decided to take a shower to get rid of the awful stench. As I was putting on some new clothes, I hear knocking on my door.

Feeling curious, I quickly dried my hair and put on my eye-shadow as I open the door to see Makoto. "Hey Ginja." He said kindly. "Hey Makoto, what'd you doing here?" I asked. "I came here to ask if you wanna hang out." "Well I would be more than happy to." I replied, smiling. "I was just gonna go to the dining hall for some tea." "Sounds good." And with that, we both went to the dining hall and started to make tea. While we waited for the tea to get done, we started to chat for a bit. "So Ginja, how have you been doing since the class trial?" He asked.

"I've been recovering. I know I can't let it haunt me forever, so the best thing to do is move on." We stayed silent for a bit before I decided to ask a question. "How have you been doing?" He seemed to have tensed up from my question. "I... I've been fine." I leaned over to him to look him directly in the eyes. "You don't sound fine. You can tell me what's wrong." I said. I sat back in my seat as I saw tears trailing down his face.

"Oh.. oh Makoto! I'm so sorry! I didn't mean to-" "It's not your fault. It's just..." He said, wiping the tears away. "It's just... I never realized what a fool I was for trusting Sayaka so easily. All because I used to have a crush on her..." "You are not a fool. She fooled all of us with her facade. Besides, I don't think she was a completely bad person." Makoto looked at me in surprise, his eyes glassy from crying. "Remember what she said before getting executed?" I asked. "She apologized to me..." He replied. "Right. So that must means not all of it was a lie. She must've still cared about you."

For a moment, Makoto didn't say anything. He pulled me into a hug as he whispered. "Thank you for comforting me..." "Hey, what're friends for?" We stopped hugging as Makoto got up and headed for the kitchen. "Want to make something to eat?" "Sure." I got up and followed him into the kitchen. But as we were about to cook, we hear arguing in the dining hall. "What's that?" He asked. "I'll go check it out." I said as I walked out of the kitchen.

I walked into the dining hall to see Taka and Mondo turn to look at me. "Hey, Ginja! Perfect timing!" Taka said. "I have a favor to ask!" A favor...? Why do I feel like this might end badly? "A... favor? What kind of favor?" "We need you to be our witness! This guy's been talkin' shit about me since day one. Callin' me a coward and shit like that..." Mondo explained. "You *are* a coward! That's why you turn to violence to solve your problems! And I also heard you teaching Ginja here how to say such fowl language! That's why you can't do what society asks of you, why you walk around dressed like that!"

"... The fuck you say?" Mondo whispered angrily. "You dunno shit." "You've already lost to yourself, but you're such a coward you don't even realize it!" Taka retorted back. "So what, you sayin' you're *not* a coward? You think you're tougher than me?" Mondo asked. "I *know* I am!" "That's enough guys!" I yelled, trying to get through to them. But they didn't seem to hear me as they continue arguing. "Okay, then let's throw down. Prove you got what I don't got!"

"Wait. Don't tell me you're gonna start punching each other, are you?" I asked nervously. "There's a bathhouse on the 1st floor of the dorm, right? With a sauna inside?" Taka seemed to nod in understanding as he replied. "I see... A simple endurance contest, is it? We're going to see who can stay in the sauna the longest, am I right!?" "Goddamn straight!" Mondo yelled. They both wrap their arms around mine as they lift me up and started walking. "H-Hey!! Makoto!" I cried out. As if on cue, he ran out of the kitchen and followed us to the bathhouse.

~~~

We reached the sauna as they finally put me down and Makoto walks up to me. "A-Are you really gonna go through with this?" Makoto asked nervously. "Shit yeah!" Mondo replied. "He'll be done in a matter of minutes, anyway. People like him are, without exception, all talk!" Taka exclaimed. "Bring! It! On!" Mondo replied, cracking his knuckles. "Hell, let's make thing interesting. Wouldn't wanna win without a challenge, right? We're gonna battle with our clothes on!"

"Th-That's idiotic! Suicidal!" Taka said in shock. "Yeah, I have to agree!" I said also. "What, you afraid?" Mondo asked. "Y-You're going to regret this!" "Shut up and let's do this!" They both shoved me and Makoto out of the sauna, along with Taka's clothes a few minutes later. I looked through the window on the door to see Taka and Mondo, covered in sweat and determined looks on their faces. I started getting a bit of a nosebleed from seeing Taka's shirtless chest. "Woah! Are you okay Ginja!? Your nose suddenly started bleeding." Makoto asked, giving me a tissue.

Y-Yeah, I'm fine..." I replied, blushing deeply as I accepted the tissue to. As time went on, I was starting to worry about the two. I hope they're okay in there and not burning alive. Seconds became minutes, minutes merged to create a whole hour, and my worries only grew. Eventually, I couldn't take it anymore. I stood up from the ground and knocked on the door. "H-Hey guys? I know you want to prove how big of badasses you are, but..." I trailed off, unsure what to say. "Don't you think you've done enough?" Makoto asked. "SHUT UP!!" They both yelled in unison, making me and Makoto jump a bit.

Ding dong, bing bong~!

The nighttime announcement plays, filling me with dread. "Guys, it's nighttime. Maybe we should call a draw?" I suggested. "In a true competition... There's no such thing as a tie! You win, or you lose. That's... the only thing that matters!" Taka explained, sound exhausted. "Listen to you... You son of a bitch...! Then bring it on...! I'll... I'll push you right up to the gates of hell!" Mondo said also, sounding just as exhausted as Taka.

The gates of hell? Soon all the worry I had for them turned into anger. "Dammit! Why do boys have to be so difficult!?" Makoto looked a little scared of my rage, and was slowly walking towards the door. "H-Hey Ginja? I think I'm gonna head back to my room. You don't mind, do you?" He asked. "Yeah, it's fine. I'll stay here to make sure those two don't die in there." I replied, watching him leaving the bathhouse. I turn to look back in the window. What a minute... What're they...? Oh god... I felt another nosebleed happening as I watched the scene unfold in front of my eyes.

~~~

I didn't think after what happened last night, I would ever see Taka and Mondo being all buddy buddy with each other. I was the first to find them in dining hall, laughing and calling each other bro. Eventually, everyone else came to the dining hall to see the two. Makoto walked up to me with a confused look on his face. "What... the...?" He started, but was too confused as to what's going on. "Hey, Makoto! Ginja!" Mondo said, turning to us.

"Thank you two so much for acting as our witnesses yesterday!" Taka said also. "Huh? Are they... friends now?" Makoto asked. "Yup. They've been like this all morning." I replied, crossing my arms. "Well it feels gross." Hina commented. "Oh let them have their fun Hina. It's kinda cute seeing them like this." I said, smiling. "See bro? Nice to see there's someone that gets our manly bond!" Taka said proudly, making me roll my eyes. "So, um... who won the contest?" Makoto asked. The two glared daggers at the boy, making him shake a bit. "Who gives a shit!?" Mondo yelled.

"Yeah, don't ask stupid questions! What matters is that we both took part in it together!" Taka yelled also. "That's... completely different from what you were saying last night." Said Makoto. He turned to me and said. "You were there last night. Surely you must know who won." I blushed, the memories of last night replaying in my mind as I took immediate interest to the ground. "I... I can't tell you. I made a promise to keep last night a secret." I replied.

"A... promise?" He asked. I could tell that made him want to know what happened last night, but I promised to keep this secret with me to my grave. After breakfast I went back to my dorm room, falling onto my bed in utter exhausted. I didn't feel like standing up and making a painting and I grabbed the sketchbook I was drawing in and started once again. I was done with drawing a tree on the hill and the sun and clouds in the sky. "Alright, it's starting to come together..." I said, trying to think of what could be missing in the sketch. But before I could even think of anything else...

Ding dong, bing bong~!

Ahem! School announcement, school announcement. Nighttime is quickly approaching, but before it arrives... All students, please gather in the gym immediately. Emergency! Emergency!

The monitor turns off, leaving me to clutch the sketchbook in nervousness. "W... What could he want us at the gym for?" I asked myself. I put down the sketchbook and pencil as I made my way to the gym. When I got there, I saw that everyone else were there as well. "Hmm... Asking us to come to gather together all of a sudden like this... What could he possibly want?" Taka asked, lookin around possibly for Monokuma.

"Indeed. What might await us this time?" Celeste asked also. As everyone were talking, I was dozing off in my imagination until I heard a familiar voice. "Say what!? Whatchoo you talkin' about, Toko!?" All attention turned towards the stage as Monokuma made the same introduction as when we first got here. "He's arrived..." Kyoko said. "What Hiro heard wasn't the sound of construction... but it *could* have been an explosion!" Monokuma said. "Huh? An explosion?" I asked. "Or maybe a machine gun! Puhuhu... That can kinda sound like construction in a way!" He continued.

"What the heck are you talking about?" I asked again. He waved his finger at me as he said. "Ah-ah-ah! Beyond this point my mouth is zipped, my lips are sealed, I am fully puckered! It's a secret little secret." "Fine, then let's move on to what you *can* tell us. Why did you call us here?" Kyoko asked. "You don't beat around the ol' bush, do ya!? Ready for me to get to the point, huh? But before that, you mind if I vent a little?"

As it turns out, he's starting to get bored that another killing has yet to happen. So he says he's came up with a new way to *motivate* us. "Is it another set of videos or something...?" Makoto asked. I sure hope not, I could barely handle the video of my grandmother. "Are... are you gonna show us some demented thing to try and drive us all to murder!?" I asked frantically, my body shaking at the thought of another murder happening. "Drive you to murder!? What a mean thing to say! Just awful!" Monokuma replied, pretending to sound hurt.

"I don't know what you've got planned, but we're not gonna kill each other anymore!" Taka declared, stepping up to the bear. "No matter what you do, I swear to god we won't!" Monokuma scratched his chin as he placed his other paw on his hip. "Hmm. That's very big talk. Do your very best to back it up, okay? Now then, with your permission, let me begin! So, this time is... embarrassing memories and secrets!" He declared, going behind the podium and continued.

"As long as you're alive, it's given that there's things you don't want other people to know about you! So I did a little investigation of my own, and I dug up some of your darkest secrets!" The bear hops back up on the podium with envelopes with our names on it. "And those embarrassing and secrets are all contained in the envelopes I have right here... I'm going to hand them out now, so take a second to take a peak!" He tossed the envelopes at our feet. I quickly picked it up as I opened it see what he wrote inside. My body froze, shocked at what was on the paper.

On the paper was a picture of me when I was in the fourth grade. But I had an afro for my hair instead. I was so embarrassed by the picture that me and my friends burned all copies of it. How did Monokuma even managed to find it!? Next to the picture was writing that says.

**Ginja had an embarrassing haircut in the fourth grade.**

 "W...What? How did you...?" I stammered, blushing as held the paper close to my chest to prevent people from seeing it. I could hear the others reacting the same way as Monokuma made another announcement. "You have 24 hours! If somebody doesn't become the blackened by then... All your deepest, darkest, most embarrassingest secrets will be exposed to the world!" What!? he can't be serious! But that's just wishful thinking. "Maybe I''ll roll by a crowded intersection in a van strapped with loudspeakers and spill the beans! Kyaaah! Wouldn't that be embarrassing!?"

Everyone was silent, until Makoto spoke up. "... So that's what you meant by "motivate"?" "Yup, you got it! They're all pretty unpleasant, trust me. None of you want me to reveal that stuff, right?" Monokuma asked. "I mean, it's something I'd rather have people not find out..." I said, trailing off as I looked down at the paper in my hands. "But there's no way we'd kill over something like that!" Makoto yelled. "Wh-What'd you say!?" Monokuma exclaimed in surprise.

"He's right! Your plan is doomed to fail! No one's gonna murder someone for this kind of thing!" Taka yelled. "O-Oh no... Is it because... for better or for worse, your memory is still a way to connect to the outside world? I have stuff I wouldn't want anyone to know no matter what, so I assumed you'd all be the same... Which is why I put so much effort into preparing this next motive! maaan! You're saying you won't kill each other over this stuff? That just sucks!" Monokuma looked away as he said. "Okay, in 24 hours, I'll expose your secrets just to make myself feel a little better!"

Monokuma leaves with an almost convincing depressed look on his face, leaving us alone once again. "I didn't know what to expect at first, but... maybe we dodged a bullet on this one. I mean yeah, having those secrets revealed is gonna be totally embarrassing. But that's seriously not enough to give someone a reason to kill, right?" Hina asked. Kiyotaka looked deep in thought until he finally spoke up.

"Good news, everyone! I have a brilliant idea! Why don't we all just confess the secrets in those envelopes right here and right now!? If we do that, any and all motive for murder will vanish! That's pretty smart, right!?" Wow, I was so worried about my own secret being exposed that I didn't take into consideration about how this could end badly. "I have to agree. I'll go first, my most embarrassing secret is-" but before I could say it, I got interrupted. "I d-don't want to hear your stupid s-story!" Said Toko. "Huh?" Both me and Taka said in unison.

"Besides, I don't... I don't w-want to talk about it... I don't c-care what anyone says, I don't want to talk a-about mine!" Toko explained. "Neither do I. Not because it is unpleasant, but because it is impossible." Celeste said also. "I agree with them. There's no need to discuss it." Said Byakuya. "What do you think, Chihiro?" Taka asked, turning to the small girl. "Um... s-sorry, I don't really want to talk about it right now."

Man, even Chihiro? "But I also don't want to leave things the way they are. So maybe I can talk about it later... After I try my best... to become strong... Than I can tell everyone." This secret must be really important to her, but I won't force it out of her. "If you don't want to talk about it, you don't have to. I'm not super excited to talk about it, either..." Hina replied. "If everyone's that much against it... Even if my bro's the one that suggested it, I gotta say no." Taka had a defeated look in his face, making me feel bad that almost everyone doesn't want to go through with the plan.

"W-Well, that's okay, then. Either way, if it's just a few secrets, I'm sure nobody's about to kill anybody over it." He straightens up a bit before continuing. "Okay, I'll stop with the secret talk. But... Each of us has 24 hours to get ready! Having our secrets exposed isn't going to be fun, but it's not like we're gonna die cuz of it! So, you know, um... Don't do anything hasty!" "The way you keep repeating it kinda makes me worry even more..." Hifumi said nervously.

Taka's face drops to a frown as he replied. "Oh... Uh, okay, sorry. I know it's gonna be tough, but..." But before he could say anymore.

Ding dong, bing bong~!

The nighttime announcement played as usual. "Nighttime already, huh? Okay, let's call it a day." Said Yasuhiro. "Good Idea. We need to prepare for tomorrow." We all left the gym in silence, not speaking to each other as we walked. Secrets and memories... something so embarrassing you don't want people see. All that stuff Monokuma was saying didn't make any sense. I finally made it back to my room as I removed my eye-shadow, removed my shoes and collapsed onto the bed. Slowly, my eyes closed as I fell asleep.

~~~

I slowly started to wake up by something soft poking my cheek, and a familiar voice saying something that sounded like... "Good morning!" I opened my eyes to see Monokuma sitting on my upper torso, waving hello with what I assume was an evilous grin. "Awaaah!" I screamed, falling off the bed and onto the floor as Monokuma landed on his feet. "Upupu! Nice reaction! I'm glad to see you didn't disappoint!"

"What the hell are you doing in my room!?" I asked furiously. "I wanted to spice things up! So I decided to wake you up in person instead of a school announcement!" Monokuma explained. I slowly got up on my feet and wipe the dust off me. "What for?" I asked as I started putting on my eye-shadow. "Because it's fun. And as long as I'm here, I figured I'd let you hear it right from the bear's mouth." He replied. I got done with my eye-shadow and went to put on my shoes. "Hear what exactly?" I asked. "Are you sure you should be acting this casual?" I froze, suddenly interested in what the bear has to say.

"I mean, even though something happened to one of your buddy-buddy classmates?" I turned to Monokuma, fear written all over my face. "What...?" "Woah! What's wrong? You're face is all blue, like someone on the verge of death!" "W... What'd you talking about!?" I demanded. "Puhuhu... That's for me to know and for you to find out! Good luuuck!" He said as he disappeared in the shadows of my room. I quickly put on my shoes as I ran to dining hall.

I burst through the doors to find only Makoto, Hina, Sakura, Yasuhiro and Byakuya there. "Ah, Ginja!" Makoto said, running up to me. "Are you okay?" Hina asked worriedly. "I'm fine. I'm just worried about everyone else." I replied, breathing heavily. "I see, so Monokuma talked to you too." Sakura said. I looked around the area to see a few people missing. "Wait... Where're everyone else?" I asked nervously. "Either they're already off trying to verify what Monokuma said... or they've fallen victim to the "something" that Monokuma mentioned." Said Byakuya.

"The... Something?" I asked curiously. "It can't be... Has it happened again?... Murder?" Another murder? My mind flashed back to when I found Leon dead in his bathroom, making me feel a little sick to my stomach. "Ginja? Are you okay?" Hina asked. "Y-Yeah... Just feeling a little nauseous." I replied, sitting down in one of the chairs. "S-So if something really did happening... Does that mean someone did it cuz of what happened yesterday?" Yasuhiro asked.

"It can't be! That stuff was just a bunch of old memories!" Hina said. "*Just* old memories? Don't be so sure about that. Clearly someone felt it was more important than that." Said Byakuya. "Huh?" Makoto said, standing next to me. "To judge someone based on your own outlook... Do you realize how dangerous that is?" "Wh-? Why didn't you say anything yesterday!?" Hina exclaimed in anger. Byakuya just scoffs and says. "Did you already forget? This isn't a co-op game. It's every man for himself. What good does it do me to go out of my way to help you?"

"Stop saying that already!" Hina yelled in anger. "There's something wrong with him, for serious. Did he get brainwashed or something?" Hiro asked. "That's not important. What matters right now is that we find out what happened..." Sakura said. "She's right. Let's split up and begin looking." Byakuya said, walking out of the dining hall. "How're you feeling Ginja? Can you walk?" Hina asked, helping me up. "Yes... I think so. Let's get searching." I replied.

We stayed in the dormitory in hopes of some of the others coming out their rooms unharmed. We also took the time to search the bathhouse and warehouse but found nothing. And, as if on cue,  **it**  came on the monitors...

Ding dong, ding dong~!

_A body has been discovered!_

TBC...

~~~

Surviving students: 12


	8. Looking for Clues to Secrets

Me and everyone else gathered in the girl's locker room to see a sickening sight. Inside the locker room was a dead Chihiro in a crucifix position, tied with what I assumed was some kind of rope. The word "Bloodlust" was written on the wall behind her in blood. "Oh god... Chihiro..." I muttered, covering my mouth to prevent vomiting all over the floor. Poor Chihiro, even though I haven't really known her well, she was still a cute and kind person.

Just by looking at Chihiro, I was starting to get flashbacks of Leon's murder. I groaned, forcing the images into the back of my head as I try to focus on something else. I looked at the written message on the wall and tilted my head. "Bloodlust?" I asked aloud, brushing the hair out of my eyes. "I don't think it's any kind of dying message. It's just... too strange..." Kyoko said. "But you know... that thing about writing "Bloodlust" in blood... Doesn't it sound kinda familiar?" Taka asked. Now that he mentioned it, I do remember hearing about Genocide Jack doing something like this at his murders.

"Genocide Jack!" Yasuhiro exclaimed in fear. No, it couldn't be! Could... could Genocide Jack really be among us? "Then this is... some copycat killer trying to imitate Genocide Jack's "Style"?" Hina asked. "But... why would anyone do that?" "Perhaps... it's the work of the real Genocide Jack?" Byakuya said, completely unfazed by the sight in front of us. Yasuhiro and Hina turned pale, probably at the possibility of the murderer being in this very school.

"But going so far as to write bloodlust at the scene... I am surprised at their stupidity..." Said Celeste. She's right. It doesn't make any sense. "I can't imagine a worse situation than dealing with a stupid murderer..." Sakura said. "Ah!" Hina said suddenly. "What's wrong?" I asked. "Toko!" She replied, pointing in the direction of the door. Toko stood there, completely horrified at what she was seeing. "Nnnnnno... Wh-Why...? Why...?" She kept repeating. "WHYYYYYYYY!?!?" Toko suddenly screamed, falling to the floor. "She fainted! That did NOT sound good!" Yasuhiro exclaimed.

"Toko!" Both me and Hina said as we rushed over to her. "Hey Toko! C'mon! Wake up!" I yelled worriedly, holding the poor girl by the shoulders. "Oh, that's right. I just remembered what she said, about how she faints anytime she sees blood." I hear Hifumi say. "So she is hemophobic? I imagine she does not watch too many horror films, then." Said Celeste. I started shaking Toko in an attempt to wake her up.

"Toko, can you hear me!? Hey, you gotta wake up!" Hina called out. Almost as if on cue, Toko shot up. I didn't even have time to react as she got up on her feet at sonic speed. "W-Wha...!?" I stuttered, surprised by the girl's sudden speed. "Sorry about that. I was just so shock, ya know? It happens, right? Was I the only one?" Said Toko, not stuttering one bit. "Toko? Are you... Okay?" Makoto asked nervously. "I'm fine, I'm fine! Kyehaha...! Woah, Is that a dead body!?" She asked, as if she saw it for the first time. "Hey! Are you dead!?" Toko called out, standing in front of the body.

"She musta hit her head *real* hard when she fainted..." Yasuhiro said. "The world has a front and a back, a top inning and a bottom, a sea of truth and a web of lies!" Toko blabbered. "This is... quite concerning. I mean, she sounds completely different..." Said Hifumi. "No no no, everything's fine! At least the stuttering's all gone. That's a good thing, right!? Kyeehahaha!" Toko said, laughing like a maniac.

"It's clear to me that everything is *not* fine! Your eyes seem strangely vacant!" Taka exclaimed. "It might be best if we take her back to her room for the time being..." Sakura suggested. "I don't mind taking her, but... could someone help me?" Hina asked, grasping Toko's shoulder. "If you need help, I don't mind-" Hifumi offered, but was cut off by Hina. "Taka, could you help me?" "Huh? She totally ignored me!" Said a shocked Hifumi.

"Very well, you take care of the girl, and the rest of us can begin the investigation right away. Can I assume nobody has a problem leaving Sakura and Mondo on guard duty again?" Nobody spoke a word, but Makoto did. "H-Hold on a second. Rushing to an investigation-" "The mastermind isn't behind that. After what happened last time, surely you realize that." Byakuya interrupted, making Makoto flinch. "There is no question that Chihiro was murdered by someone among us. Isn't that right, Monokuma?" He asked, looking around. "Right as rain!" Said Monokuma, laying on Byakuya's head and jumping to the floor.

"But don't take this as a bad thing. It's just a fact of life! Because... That's how graduation works!" So, that's what happened? Another one of us... murdered a classmate? Just to keep a secret? "What, does that freak you out? You guys got no balls, you know that!? Is there just nothin' down there at all? Well, I'll let you pray to mine if you want." I blushed deeply, hanging my head low and burying my face in my hands.

"Actually, I don't have any, either! Sorry!" I heard that stupid bear say, soon being followed by Byakuya. "Stop monologuing and give us what you came to give us. You *did* bring it, right?" I looked up, the blush disappearing from my face. "Hehehe... I sure did, chum!" He pulled out multiple copies of the Monokuma File and handed them to us. "Allow me to present the next Monokuma File. I know how much you must be looking forward to it! So, please do your very tippy-top best on this investigation!" He disappeared, leaving us in utter despair.

"Do we really gotta do another investigation...? Examining the corpse of one of our friends... Having to suspect all our *other* friends... I hate this... I can't take it anymore!" Hina said, horrified that something like this is happening again. "I hate it too!" Yasuhiro exclaimed. "I-I-I've had enough! I'm gettin' out of here!" "Where do you plan on going? There's nowhere to run." Sakura replied. "Just accept it already. After all, blood is just a liquid. A dead body is a simple object."

"You are very... enthusiastic about all this, are you not?" Celeste asked. "How can I not be? If we don't unmask the culprit, we all die." Byakuya replied. "Th-That's true, but... to jump into it so soon..." Makoto started but Byakuya interrupted him again. "What? Do you *want* to die?" Byakuya asked intimidatingly. he then crossed his arms and says. "Fine, then go off and die somewhere. Right now, go ahead. You're a waste of space." I could feel my blood boiling in anger from what was coming out of his mouth. How could he say such things without any remorse or thoughts about others?

I clenched my hands, feeling an urge to shut his rich-boy mouth by strangling his neck, and it seems like someone agrees with me. "A dead body is an... object?" Mondo asked, anger present in his voice. "Chihiro wasn't an "object"! Show a little respect, or I'll beat it into ya!" "I'll be more than happy to help!" I added in. "Everyone stop bickering. Listen, there's some truth in what Byakuya said." Kyoko started, getting between Byakuya and Mondo

"If we don't solve this mystery and find the killer, our own lives are forfeit. And if Byakuya is right that Genocide Jack is somehow the one who killed Chihiro... then unless we do something, more victims could start piling up." Her explanation was enough to get me to calm down. I never knew how much anger I bottled up until now, and I have Byakuya to thank for helping me see that. I was taken out of my thoughts when heard my handbook beep. I pulled out my handbook and looked through the rules, seeing that another rule was added.

**Rule #11: The guilty party may only kill a maximum of two people during any single "Killing Game."**

While this rule scares me a bit, it also relieves me that no more than two of my classmates can be murdered. "Wait, why not just limit it to just one?" I asked, putting my handbook back in my pocket. "Well in a good mystery, you don't want to miss out on at least the *potential* of a serial killer angle! Nyoohohoho! Just one would totally murder that possibility!"Monokuma replied. "Farewell for now! I'll catch you guys at the class trial!"

He disappears once again. "I can't say I understand his thinking, but if we can kill up to two people... then one more person's life could still be in danger." Said Celeste. "Which is definitely not good. We need to uncover the culprit before something else happens." Byakuya said also. "YOU need to shut the fuck up!" Mondo yelled. "W-Well... for now, Taka and me are gonna go drop Toko off at her room." Hina piped up, grabbing Toko's hand to lead her out of the locker room. "Nice! I'm gonna get dropped off!" Was all Toko said before leaving the room with Hina and Taka.

"We have no time to stand around here. we must begin our investigation tout suite. If we do not solve the mystery of who killed Chihiro... then we will quickly follow her in the afterlife." Celeste is right. If we're gonna survive this trial, we're gonna need to work together and find what evidence we can find. First things first, I need to check the Monokuma file and see what it holds. I opened up the file and start reading it.

" _The victim was Chihiro Fujisaki. The time of death is estimated to be around 2:00 a.m. The body was discovered in the girls locker room, on the 2nd floor of the school. The cause of death was a blow to the head with a blunt object. She was killed instantly._ " That's all it says... but at least it's better than nothing. I see Makoto and Byakuya leaving the room, probably to investigate somewhere else. Guess that just leaves me to investigate the locker rooms to find something. I decided to gather testimony from the others and started with Mondo. "Dude had a real complex about being weak."

"Yeah, sad to see her dead before accomplishing her goal..." I said, looking over at her corpse. "You heard Chihiro talk about it, right? All *I need to get stronger!*" I only nodded in response as he continued. "Which... I guess explains the trip down here..." "But... was getting strong that important? She was a girl after all, and you mentioned that most girls are not that strong." I replied, still a bit salty from that comment the other day.

"I dunno, woman. Haven't really thought about that stuff." The cause of Chihiro's complex... I wonder what it could be. I wrote down Chihiro's complexity and her desire to get stronger, feeling relieved for bringing my notepad and camera before coming here. I then hear Sakura's voice behind me as she says. "I use this locker room all the time. Now... It's become the site of Chihiro's death." I turned around to face her. "But... why was she killed in the locker room?" Sakura looked at me in confusion. "I mean, if you think about it, she could have been killed somewhere else, and carried here."

"She was very light, that is true. It wouldn't be hard for someone to carry her. But still... I still think she came here on her own, by choice." Now this caught my attention. "What makes you say that?" I asked. "She's been talking a lot lately about how she wanted to get stronger." Sakura replied. "So that means she went here. But she was killed around two in the morning... but what reason would she have to do it so late?" I questioned.

"Hina or myself are usually in the locker room during the day. So she was probably avoiding it then." Sakura explained. "Avoiding it?" I said confusingly. "Although we invited her to join us more than once, she never showed up. So I can only assume she was trying to avoid us." She replied. "And instead, she came here to exercise late at night?" "Perhaps. But it's difficult for me to imagine she would have come alone. She did want to start exercising, but she specifically mentioned she couldn't do it by herself. She needed support from others."

"So what you're saying is that Chihiro could've come here late at night to train in secret... but probably came here with someone to help her." I said, writing down Sakura's account. "It's a possibility, I think." I hear her say. I walked over to something on floor and crouched down in front of it. It appeared to be a dumbbell with a bloodstain on it, proving it's obviously the murder weapon. I tried picking it up but could only lift it a few inches off the ground.

Instead I took a picture of it and got up to look around more. I turned around to see Kyoko examining Chihiro's body and stepping away. "Found anything?" I asked, walking up to her. "... Chihiro's handbook. It nowhere to be found on her." She replied, quick and clear. " _What?_ " I thought to myself. I wrote it down as Kyoko spoke up again. "You might want to examine her body. You might find something." Was all she said as she left the room. I got closer to Chihiro, looking for anything that could a clue. I then noticed that the rope that was used to put her in this crucifix position had a plug.

"What the?" I said aloud. I continued to examine the body, finding that the rope was an extension cord and blood dripped from Chihiro's head. That cord... Where have I seen it before...? My mind flashed back to when me and Makoto found Byakuya in the library, reading a book, using a lamp to light part of the room. That's it! This extension cord was the same one Byakuya was using! I took a quick picture of the cord and turned my head to the side.

I see a poster of a model in a bikini with a bloodstain on it. "Hmm... This shouldn't belong here." I said aloud, taking a picture of the poster. That got me wondering. If this poster's here, then what's the status of the boy's locker room? I left the girl's locker room and head for the boy's. But as I was about to enter, my eyes caught a glimpse of the card reader. These cards readers are supposed to work when we swipe our handbooks over them, at least that's what I remembered. Wanting to get more information about it, I called out. "Hey Monokuma! I wish to speak with you!" 

Almost instantly, he appeared. "You called for me?" He asked. "I have an important question." I said, kneeling down to the bear. "Sure. what's up?" "It's about the card reader." I started, but he seemed to know what I was gonna ask. "Yes, the card readers have all been designed to interface with your e-Handbooks! You can only enter the locker room corresponding to the gender listed in your in your individual handbook."

"So it's impossible for two people to go in at the same time when it's unlocked?" I asked. "If there were some sort of erotic terrorist on the prowl..." Monokuma started, pointing at the Gatling gun on the ceiling. "The ceiling-mounted Gatling gun would initiate a Swiss cheese slaughter!" And the rules say that lending your handbook is forbidden. So only boys can get into the boy's locker room, and it's the same for the girls. Unless... "If you're not gonna say anything, I'll just be on way! Fare-thee-well!" Monokuma disappeared, leaving me with my thoughts.

I write down what I learned about the card readers and the rule about the e-Handbooks. I finally entered the boy's locker room to see it was the same as the girl's, but with a different wallpaper. I looked around as my eyes caught sight of the poster on the wall. It was a poster of the boy-band Tornado the girls at my old school were obsessed over. I took a picture of the poster and continued looking around.

I looked down to see a stain on the carpet. "Huh? What's that doing there?" I asked myself, taking a picture of it. I thought back to the switched posters, trying to figure out how they switched in the first place. I walked back to the girl's locker and walked up to Sakura. "You spend a lot of time exercising in the girl's locker room, right Sakura?" I asked. "I've used it nearly every day since it opened up. Sometimes Hina and I use it together." She replied. "Okay then, let me ask you something. Do you think the posters in both locker rooms have been switched?"

"Sorry, I can't really say. I never really paid any attention to the posters." "I see..." I replied, looking down at the ground. "But there *is* something that's been bothering me about the locker room..." I hear her say, making me look back up. "You see, I like to drink a little protein coffee every time I finish exercising." "We have protein powder?" I asked. "In the warehouse. It's not the highest quality, but I don't have a lot of other options."

I tilted my head, listening for anything that could be useful. "I mix protein powder with coffee, and down a glass of it after exercising. Anyway, the other day, I spilled some on the carpet in the girl's locker room, and it left a stain." She explained. I looked over at the carpet to only see a bloodstain. "I don't see a coffee stain now." I said, turning back to Sakura. "Exactly. I noticed it earlier, the stain has disappeared. I can only assume someone came along and cleaned it up. But still, isn't it unusually clean? As if there was never a stain to begin with..." "That does sound weird when you think about it..."

I wonder if it has anything to do with the stain in the boys locker room... I went back to my dorm room to print out the pictures I took and review the notes I took. I wonder how Makoto's doing on his investigation with Byakuya? I feel sorry for him having to investigate with Byakuya of all people. I think he would've been better investigating with Kyoko. They look like they would get along nicely.

Ding dong, bing bong~!

The announcement for the Class Trial went off, reminding everyone in the school where to meet. I grabbed the printed photos and headed for the first floor. I went through the red door to see everyone already there. Monokuma appeared from nowhere and looked around. "Ahem, so... is everyone ready to- whaaat!?" He looks around, getting on top of my head to search better. "Am I blind, or are we missing someone?" He asked, climbing down. "Yeah, Toko's not here." Mondo answered. "And Toko is...?" Monokuma trailed off, as if he don't remember.

"You really don't remember...?" Yasuhiro asked. "Kidding! I'm just kidding. How could I forget that little nutjob? She's a crucial part of the class trial this time! Okie dokie, I'll go ahead and drag her out here kicking and screaming. Just one moment, please!" Just like he said, a few minutes later. He came back dragging Toko behind him, who was doing a poor job trying to fight back.

"Nng...Ghh... I t-told him I didn't want to, but... h-he forced me! I can't believe you would d-drag a girl around... Terrible...! You're t-terrible!" She scolded. Monokuma seemed to ignore her as he said. "Whew! So NOW everyone's here, right?" Nobody answered. "Okay then, hustle onto the elevator and let's get this show on the road! I'll see you guys down here!" He once again disappeared, going to the location of the class trial. "So, shall we get going? It's time to find out who killed Chihiro." Byakuya said, walking into the elevator. Chihiro... just the thought of killing someone like her makes my blood boiling.

She was nice, so calm and cute. And someone here made a choice to kill her. "Ginja?" I hear Makoto say, making me snap out of my thoughts. "Hm?" I hummed curiously. "Have you found anything during your investigation?" "Yes. I've found some evidence that could help us in the trial." I replied, rubbing my arms. "What about you?" He looked down, suddenly looking a bit scared. "Makoto?" I asked. "I... You'll find out in the trial..."

His response only made me more curious. What'd he find that terrified him? Without wasting time, we all stepped into the elevator. The familiar sounds movement of the elevator going downward filled the air. The pit in my stomach kept getting bigger as we went deeper... and it suddenly stopped. We stepped out of the elevator to see the decor of the trial was different. "What do you think? I redecorated! Isn't it so fresh? Isn't it so EXCITING!?" Monokuma asked. "Don't waste our time with stupid questions. Let's get this over with." Byakuya replied, going over to his seat.

"Good, good, you're rip-raring to go! Gotta say, I don't hate it! Not at all!" Said Monokuma, clapping his paws together. "Okay then, let's get this show on the road! Everyone, please find your assigned seat!" We all went over to our seats. I looked over at Chihiro's place to see a picture of her with an X over her face. I clenched my fists, determined to find Chihiro's killer. And of course I'm not doing it alone, I have Makoto and my friends. To help me through this Class Trial.

TBC...

~~~

Surviving Students: 12

Truth Bullets:

Monokuma File #2 - The victim was Chihiro Fujisaki. The time of death is estimated to be around 2:00 a.m. The body was discovered in the girls locker room, on the 2nd floor of the school. The cause of death was a blow to the head with a blunt object. She was killed instantly.

Sakura's Account - Although Chihiro wanted to get stronger, she declined several invitations from Sakura and Aoi, and may have used the locker room late at night to avoid them. Despite this, Chihiro had stated that she desired help with her efforts. She may have been meeting someone in the locker room the night she was murdered.

Locker Room Dumbbell - The dumbbell found on the floor of the girls locker room had a significant amount of blood on it.

Mondo's Account - Chihiro had told anyone willing to listen that she wanted to get stronger. Some assume that due to her inferiority complex about being weak, she admired strength more than anything else.

Card Reader - To unlock a locker room, you need to swipe your e-Handbook over the card reader. You need a male student's handbook for the boys locker room, and a female student's for the girls. It is not possible for two people to enter at the same time. Additionally, lending someone your handbook is a violation of school regulations.

Boys Locker Room Carpet - The carpet in the boys locker room was found with a blackish stain on it.

Two Locker Room Posters - Blood was found on the poster in the girls locker room. The poster featured a big-breasted supermodel popular among young boys. Meanwhile, the poster in the boys locker room was for a boy band popular with teenage girls.

Chihiro's e-Handbook - Chihiro's handbook was not found on her corpse, and has apparently gone missing.

Status of the Dead Body - Chihiro's body had been suspended, and her hands had been bound with some kind of rope. Her fatal injury was a blow to the head.

Disappearing Stain - Sakura mentioned that she was responsible for a coffee stain on the girls locker room floor. However, the stain had since been inexplicably scrubbed away.


	9. Genocide Jack Makes the Scene

The Trial starts off with Monokuma listing off the rules of the Trial, soon being followed by what to discuss. "Okay then, so first off... Let's talk about the murder weapon!" I was the first to speak up as I held up a picture of the dumbbell. "The murder weapon was obviously the dumbbell. It was discovered at the scene of the crime and it's covered with blood, and there wasn't anything else that could prove this wrong." I explained. "And the wound on the victim's head was consistent with the shape of the dumbbell. As far as I'm concerned, there's no mistake and no room for doubt on this one." Kyoko said, agreeing with me.

"You... looked at her head wound?" Hina asked. "Kyaaah! That's so creeeepy!" Hifumi said also. Kyoko said nothing as Byakuya spoke up. "If you don't mind, I will proceed from here. Let's move on to discussion of the culprit. Although, I believe the criminal behind this heinous act is already quite clear." I looked at him with a raised eyebrow, how could he already know who's the killer? Unless... "Chihiro's killer is... The fiendish serial killer, Genocide Jack!" Genocide Jack!? Is there really anything that could prove it?

~Nonstop Debate~

Byakuya: The culprit is Genocide Jack, I'm sure of it. Case closed, as far as I'm concerned.

Aoi: But... That's impossible!

Byakuya: Why? What makes it impossible?

Aoi: Well, I mean... come on...! There's just **no proof for it**!

Makoto: ...!

~Break!~

"I.. might know one reason he could be involved..." Makoto said. "What!?" Hina exclaimed in confusion. "I found this file while I was looking around the archive in the library..." He presents us with some kind of black book with the words "Murder Cases of Genocide Jack Top Secret" on the front cover. "I guess it's some kind of confidential file the police put together about the Genocide Jack case." He explained.

"What...? That's kinda weird as shit, isn't it? What was something like that doing in the library?" Mondo asked. "The why of it is probably more trouble than it's worth, so let's forget about that for now. More importantly, it outlines all the specifics of every Genocide Jack case in exceeding detail. According to the file, there appear to be two defining characteristics in every Genocide Jack case. The first is that a bloody message is found written of every murder." Byakuya explained. "Oh, that's right! "Booblust"!" Hifumi exclaimed proudly. I blushed madly as I buried my face in my hands.

"Uh, no... it's actually "bloodlust"..." I hear Hina say as I removed my hands from my face. "But more important is the other characteristic. And it's something that has never been made public..." Said Byakuya. "Never made public...? What the hell is it?" Mondo asked. "Why don't you tell them, Makoto?" Byakuya asked, looking at Makoto. "Well..." He started. "Apparently, in every Genocide Jack case, the killer suspends the body in a certain way. Other than the killer, the only people who know about this are the higher-ups in the police department."

"However, Chihiro was most definitely suspended in the same way. So, how did the culprit know about this, when only high-level police officials were aware of it? There's only one logical answer I can think of. It's because the culprit in this case... is the real Genocide Jack." Byakuya explained. "Are you saying Genocide Jack... is one of us?" Celeste asked, lifting her hand over her mouth. "Yes. In fact, it's Toko."

Toko looked surprised at what Byakuya revealed. "Genocide Jack's true Identity... is Toko Fukawa." Byakuya said, pointing at the girl. "YOU LIIIEEEEEEE!" Hifumi screamed. "Yeah! I'm having trouble believing it myself!" I exclaimed also, placing my hands on chest in an attempt to calm my beating heart. "Wh-Wh-Wh-What?" Toko stuttered. "Hey, okay, wait, hold on a sec! Toko has like, bloodophobia or whatever, remember? What kind of serial killer is afraid of blood!?" Hina asked. "Is Toko Genocide Jack? The answer is yes... and no." What does that mean? Toko is Genocide Jack, but not? I think I've read something about this in the mystery novel series I used to read. Now what was is called...?

Sc---op-re--a

Sch--pohren-a

Schizophrenia

"Is it because... Genocide Jack has a split personality?" I said curiously. "I think I read that somewhere in the file, too... They thought that the suspect might have... What did they call it? Dissociative identity disorder." Makoto explained. "O-Okay... but still, to go and say that about Miss Fukawa is-" Hifumi said, but was cut off by Byakuya. "Perfectly acceptable. Toko's strange behavior after seeing the dead body is proof enough that she has a split personality."

"You mean... when she started acting different than usual?" I asked. "That's right. Think back, she fainted when she saw Chihiro's corpse. And when she woke up..." "She was acting funny, that's for sure! That melancholy tone of hers completely disappeared!" Taka exclaimed, finishing what Byakuya was gonna say. "Don't go assigning adjectives to my t-tone without permission..." Toko scolded. "Not to mention, once she regained consciousness and saw Chihiro's body again, she was utterly calm. In other words, within her is one personality that can't handle blood, and one that obviously can."

Toko was starting to look nervous from Byakuya explanation. "So when Toko trapped herself in her room, it's because she was scared of Genocide Jack...?" Hina asked, crossing her arms. "The reason she locked herself in her room wasn't to keep other people from getting in... It was to keep her personality from getting out." Byakuya explained. "Huh...?" I whispered, not believing what he was saying.

"Toko was afraid. Afraid of the murderous fiend inside of her, of killing even more people." "H-H-How...?" Toko asked Byakuya. "Yeah, how can you know all this!?" Hina asked angrily. "I do believe you misunderstood her. What's she's trying to say isn't, "How can you know all this?" No, what she wants to know is, How could you tell them?" "...Huh?" "Last night, just before Monokuma gave his "motive" speech, Toko and I had a strange conversation. She told me the most interesting story... She said a murderous fiend lived within her, and she was afraid it could appear and attack at any time. And the trepidation is what caused her to have such a bleak attitude. Isn't that right, Toko?"

Toko glared daggers at Byakuya, probably angry at him for exposing such a secret. "This is all a lie... right, Toko?" Hina asked, turning to look at the girl. "Y-You said you wouldn't t-tell anyone...!" I gasped, everything that's been said wasn't a lie!? "You p-promised...! I can't b-believe you l-lied!" Toko yelled. "You have only yourself to blame. You came to me with your tragic little story. I didn't ask you to. This is the real world, not some romantic fantasy fairytale."

"Gyah...! G-Gaah!" "Besides, you broke you promise first. You said that as long as you were here, no matter what, you wouldn't let Genocide Jack kill anyone. But in spite of that promise... You still killed someone." "You said if I k-kept my promise... you would g-go out with me! Th-That's the only r-reason I promised...!" "How many times do I have to tell you? I never said that. But you weren't able to do it. you just couldn't resist that rush you got from killing, couldn't you?" "I-I tried... I swear I t-tried to control it! B-But..." "But your efforts were useless. What a disappointment."

"Nggh... I hate you..." Toko suddenly lunged backwards. A huge thud echoed throughout the courtroom. But in the next second... She stood right back up at fast speed. But she looked different. Her eyes has expanded and became red, and her tongue was long and sticking out like a lizard. "Well hello there! Is it me you were hoping to see!?" Genocide Jack greeted, her voice completely different from before. I felt fear building up in my body, terrified that this killer is really here.

"Gah! Eugh, what the heck!?" Hifumi exclaimed in confusion. "So you figured it out, huh? Well, whatever! What're ya gonna do!? I'm the Ultimate Murderous Fiend, Genocide Jack! Or better yet, let's go with Genocide Jill!" She announced. "What the fuck is this!?" Mondo yelled, voicing my thoughts exactly. "Toko... what happened to you?" "Not Toko! That's a loser name! And what happened is a textbook split personality!" She answered Taka's questioned. "So what if one of them happens to be a serial killer!? You should turn a blind eye to one's faults!"

She laughs madly, showing off her sharp teeth. "She's so... intense." Said Yasuhiro. "Like they say, sound in murderous mind, sound in murderous body!" "This one is so different than the one we've come to know..." Said Sakura. "Yes, well, the world is composed of a front and a back, you know. Just like how every inning has a top and a bottom, or how in the depths of every truth lives a little lie... Behind every dark and gloomy soul lives another that shines as bright as the sun!"

Jill once again laughs madly. I couldn't believe it, THIS person is Genocide Jack? I'm surprised we're all still alive right now. "Um, Miss Jack- er, Jill? Can I ask you a question...?" Hifumi asked, looking nervous. "What's up!?" "Some of us think you might be the mastermind behind our entire situation. What are your thoughts on that?" "Well I'll tell you! I am the mastermind of all masterminds!... Just kidding!" Jill replied. "So... You're not the mastermind?" I asked. "Of course it's not true! How dare you try to link me with that creepazoid!?" I hear Monokuma say.

"And another thing! The police and government and society in the outside world is totally powerless! I mean, they just let this idiotic bloodthirsty maniac go buck wild all over town!" "Sure, I'm a bloodthirsty maniac. But life is pain, right? To live is to hurt other people. It's a necessary evil if you want to survive. The act of living itself causes pain for everyone...! Just kidding again! Kyeehahaha!" Jill replied.

"This should be enough to convince you. This murderous fiend is responsible for Chihiro's death. There's clearly a motive, so there should be no doubt." Byakuya said. "A motive?" Sakura asked. "Remember what Monokuma told us? If someone didn't murder and graduate within 24 hours, an embarrassing memory or secret would be revealed. Well, let's assume that Toko's secret was about Genocide Jack. If a secret like that came to light, Toko's life would have undoubtedly been forever ruined. So she had a very clear motive to never have that side of herself exposed." Byakuya explained, pushing his glasses up.

"Interesting... Very very very interesting...! But sorry! As much as I hate to admit it, I'm not the culprit!" My eyes widened at what Jill said, she isn't the culprit? "But I can't imagine anyone other than you could murder someone in such a bizarre fashion..." Said Celeste. "Maybe so, maybe so! But nevertheless, it's the truth." "... Do you really expect any of us to believe you?" Sakura said, soon being followed by Hina.

"Yeah! I could never believe a word you say, you monster!" I start to think, did she really murder Chihiro? But it doesn't make any sense. I need to get some more details about it.

~Nonstop Debate~

Jill: Sorry, but I didn't kill anyone!

Sakura: You say that, but do you really expect any of us to believe it?

Celeste: Perhaps if you had an alibi, that would change things...

Jill: Ohh, an alibi, huh? Now we're talkin'!

Byakuya: When you compare your past murders to this incident... **the modus operandi** matches completely.

Ginja: ...!

~Break!~

"Are the methods of murder really exactly the same? I'm not so sure about that..." I looked over at Makoto and asked. "Do you, by any chance, have a picture of one of the past murders? If not, can you describe it to me?" Before he could reply, *she* spoke up again. "Uh-oh, you don't know? Well then, human garbage, let me tell you!" As she begins to talk, Makoto slips me a picture of one of her past murders. I felt my throat constrict at the scene in the picture... But it does give me more than enough information to prove that Genocide Jill didn't do it.

"I murder with passion and conviction! I consider myself a professional, and I have a very particular way of doing things! Imagine you go to a Italian restaurant. They're very picky about the noodles, the sauce, everything. But what happened to Chihiro... It'd be like if that same Italian restaurant started using Ragu or Chef Boyardee! This is no creation of mine!" Though I get where she was getting at, it was weird comparing killing to cooking...

"Let me rephrase that, in a way that might make more sense... From looking at the photo and comparing it to now, I can see there's clearly some difference between the past cases and this one. for example, The Monokuma file said that the fatal injury was a blow to the head. But from looking at the picture, it seems that this victim died form having some scissors jabbed into their body." I explained. "Ah, yes! that is remarkably different from the other murders!" Hifumi declared. "And besides, wouldn't it be strange for someone who kills the same way to suddenly change their method?" Makoto asked.

I mentally nodded, also finding it strange. "And there's more... one more conflicting detail." "That's right! in my recipe of murder, if the bloody message if the tortellini... then the arrangement of the body would be the pesto sauce!" Jill exclaimed in excitement. "Could you please stop comparing killing people to cooking...?" Yasuhiro asked. "S-So... are you saying the other difference has to do with how the body was arranged...?" Taka asked nervously.

I thought back to when I saw Chihiro's body, remembering the cord that was used to suspend her. "Remember what the killer used to position her? They'd used some sort of rope to hang her up by the wrists." I said, showing everyone the photo of the so called rope. "What is your point?" Celeste asked. "Well, from I assume by just looking at the picture, I see they were suspended with something else... Specifically, pairs of razor sharp scissors." I replied. "And guess what! I used my own specially designed scissors for the murders AND and arrangement!" Jill explained.

"Like I said, I'm a professional. So naturally I'm very picky about the tools I use! And- andandandandand ya know what else!? Blondie said there's a few differences, but she's wrong Big Mac!" "Big Mac...? Are you referring to me?" Makoto asked. "Listen up, Big Mac! There's actually one more difference!" "Really?" I asked. "My word! You really didn't notice? Take a look at who the victims were in each Genocide Jack case... There's a pattern there just waiting to be discovered!"

"A... Pattern?" Sakura asked. "Figure that out, and it'll be plain as death why I couldn't have possibly murder that little loli girl!" There's a pattern in the past murders? And Chihiro doesn't fit in it? "Is it because... Chihiro was a girl?" Makoto asked. "BINGO! Bull's-eye! Right on the money!" Jill replied excitedly. "What are you talking about...?" Yasuhiro asked. "In all the Genocide Jack cases, all the victims had something in common." Makoto lists off the previous victims of the cases, even stating the genders to which all of them are male. And that got me thinking.

"They're all... Male?" I asked. "That's right! The people I kill with such passion and conviction... are all adorable little men! Kyaah! I can't believe I said it! I'm so embarrassed!" "The hell is wrong with you!?" I hear Mondo yell. "I can't help it. I'm just a full-throttle boy-on-boy fangirl! And the mopey side of me just hates it! But now I'm on the fast track to becoming a full-fledged fanmadam!" "So since Chihiro was a girl and not an "adorable little man"... you wouldn't kill her?"

"Would an Italian chef suddenly start making raman, just because they're both noodles? Don't be stupid!' Jill replied to Taka. "I have too much passion and conviction to cross that line! That's the absolute reality of the one and only!" "We get it. You've clearly explained your hobby and your philosophy. But that's not all there is to it. It's a different matter entirely... when you're forced to kill in order to survive." Said Byakuya. "Quiet, lowly cur!" "Lowly... cur?" I place a hand over my mouth to prevent laughing from Jill insulting Byakuya. But... why does it feel like... I've heard it before?

"I would never kill for a reason as petty as mere survival! And! If by some fluke I *did* kill to survive... Why would I bother with the message and the arrangement!? It'd make me the obvious suspect!" "I agree. It just wouldn't make any sense. Why murder someone if you're gonna leave clues that proves you did it?" I said, crossing my arms. "See! Gingerbread gets it completely!" "... Ginger... bread?" I asked, feeling caught off guard by the sudden nickname.

"PLUS! Whatever reason I have for killing, I would NEVER leave out my prized scissors! Who would go out of their way to use a big stupid heavy dumbbell!?" "Maybe you used the dumbbell cuz you couldn't find any scissors in the school?" Hifumi asked Jill. "*Any* scissors? I don't use just "any" scissors! I only use my own set of high-class, envy of the entire world scissors! Speaking of..." She pulls out four scissors, two in each hand from her skirt and declared out loud. "Da da-da daa!" "grgh! She's fully equipped!" I hear Hifumi say in fear.

"That's right! So I can kill anywhere, anytime! Why would I resort to dumbbells or rope, when I have my trusty scissors by my side? Go ahead, tell me I'm wrong. You can't, can you? Gutter dogs, all of you!" Jill places the scissors back in her skirt somewhere. "Not to mention, I have no clue how to tie a good knot. So rope's out totally of the question anyway!" I could hear Taka groaning in frustration besides me, as I kept my eyes on Jill.

"I have no idea what's going on anymore...! Could such a heinous villain really be innocent!?" I hear Taka asked. "But... the body was suspended, right? And nobody but the police knew about that..." Mondo asked. "Yeah! That's why we figured it had to be the real deal and not some copycat killer of whatever!" But... If Genocide didn't do it, then who did? But before I could try to think, Makoto spoke up. "Byakuya... it's possible you could have found out, isn't it? You'd have no problem gaining access to classified government documents or internal police records." He explained.

"Plus, you've already looked through the Genocide Jack file before all this happened, hadn't you?" Byakuya said nothing, Making me feel a bit suspicious. "A-Are you saying... Mr. Togami did it?" Hifumi asked. "Then the reason he pushed the theory of Genocide Jack being the killer so hard was... because he wanted to pin the crime on her!" Said Celeste. "So he rearranged the scene to disguise it and make it look like I'd put my stamp on it...!"

Jill wrapped her arms around herself while blushing. "The adorable glasses man was behind it all!? Ahh, I'm on fire!" "Well, Byakuya!? What's your response!?" Taka yelled. " I see... So now the suspicion falls on me. Then I must ask... when would you say I began acting suspicious? Surely you must have an answer..." Byakuya asked, turning towards Makoto. He placed a finger on his chin, probably thinking back to earlier today. "Hmm, looking back and thinking about it now... The way you were acting right before we discovered the body was a little strange..."

"You wanted to go to the girls locker room right away, right? But since you're a guy..." "I should have naturally thought of the boys locker room first. Is that what you want to say?" Byakuya asked, seemingly answering Makoto's question. "The victim was Chihiro. A girl. Hence why I said we should check the girls locker room." "Nothing strange about that. I'd say!" Hifumi said, agreeing with Byakuya. "On the contrary, there's something *very* strange!" Makoto retorted.

"Okay then, what's so strange about it? Go ahead, share with the rest of the class." Byakuya said. Just what is Makoto trying to say? Could Byakuya really be the killer?

~Nonstop Debate~

Aoi: So you said Byakuya was acting kinda weird before we found the body... But he was acting weird... how?

Hifumi: If you're presented with the opportunity to check out the girls locker room, you absolutely take it...! That's a natural reaction for any guy!

Byakuya: **The victim was Chihiro** , who was a girl.

Makoto: ...!

~Break!~

"I'll tell you what's so strange about that... Because up until we actually discovered the body, we couldn't have known who the victim was! So your claim that you went to the girls locker first because Chihiro was the victim doesn't hold up!" "I see... That's a good answer, I must admit. Interesting. Very interesting, indeed! But your reasoning is still too weak!" Makoto looked surprised at what Byakuya said, making the other boy push his glasses up a bit. "What's wrong? Is that it? Surely you've got more than that. Go ahead, show us..." Just what is up with Byakuya's attitude? It's almost like he doesn't even care.

"What's the matter? You're not finished already, are you? There must be more to it..." Byakuya asked smugly. "Th-There is... I think..." I clenched my fists as I felt words escape my mouth. "There is! We've already explained the differences between the Genocide Jack cases and this one! While I was investigating the locker rooms, I found proof that points to you being the culprit." "... Oh? Proof that I'm the culprit, you mean?"

I glared at Byakuya as he said that. I know one piece of evidence I have that might prove Byakuya's a prime suspect.

~Nonstop Debate~

Jill: What, the difference between the cases? You want me to explain it again!? When I want to kill, I use my very own special scissors! And I use those same scissors to arrange the body!

Celeste: But... Chihiro was suspended with... It was some kind of rope, was it not?

Kiyotaka: That's right! It absolutely was!

Hifumi: Then there must be something very fishy indeed about that rope...!

Mondo: Hey Byakuya! Where'd you get it from, huh?

Byakuya: **I'd never seen that rope** before in my life...

Ginja: ...!

~Break!~

"Really? Are you sure? Cause I'm positive you certainly *have* seen it before." I pull out the picture of the "rope" and held it up. "In fact, it's not even rope at all. It's an extension cord." "What!? An extension cord!?" Hifumi exclaimed in confusion. "I've seen that same extension cord in the library the few times I visited. And I'm pretty sure you used it multiple times, haven't you?" I asked. "That's right! And when we were investigating the library, I noticed it was missing!" Makoto said, realization written on his face. "Didn't think we'd noticed? Well I'm sure a few of us noticed." I said.

"Then Byakuya must be the one who took the extension cord! I can't imagine any other possibility!" Taka yelled. At first, Byakuya stayed silent. But eventually said something. "That's really what you think? Then your conclusion is something like this...? I killed Chihiro in the girls locker room, then hung her up and wrote that bloody message. I intentionally made it look like Genocide Jack was behind it. Is that about right?"

He glared daggers at me, sending shivers down my spine. But... something doesn't seem right, what he just said... As I started to think, I heard Byakuya say something. "What's wrong? I asked you if you think that what happened." "Hell yes that's what happened! So that's it, right? Byakuya's the killer!" Mondo exclaimed. "I don't disagree with not disagreeing!" Said Jill. "He kept calling this a game, right? So he'd be totally willing to do something like to "win"!" Taka said. "... Hold on a second!" I yelled, gaining everyone's attention. "Byakuya. Repeat what you said, there's something that's bothering me."

"Is that right? and what, prey tell, is bothering you? I killed her in the girls locker room, then disguised my crime. Specifically, I dressed it up to make it look like it was the work of a homicidal psychopath. What about all that "bothers" you?" He asked. "Right there! You said you killed Chihiro in the GIRLS locker room, but there's a clear contradiction in there." I explained. "Gh...!" What was that Byakuya? Did I catch you off guard?

Not wasting a second, I continued. "From what I heard from Monokuma, only male students can enter the boys locker room; or else they would've been shot to death. And the same is for the girls. And while I investigated both, I found that the crime scene could've possibility been switched. So it's possible that she could've been killed somewhere else!" "Hey, don't just move on without permission! What do you mean she was killed somewhere else!?" Taka asked. "Come on, Ginja! If there's any chance the murder took place somewhere else, let's see the proof!" Byakuya demanded.

I smirked as I pulled out two photos of the posters. "The proof that she was killed somewhere else... lies within these posters." "Your proof... is some posters?" Byakuya asked, surprised by what I said. "The poster in the girls locker room was... a supermodel in a bikini. But don't you think that's kind of strange? Why would the girls locker room have a poster like that?" "I bet those massive jugs of hers were totally fake!" I hear Jill say, laughing madly.

I just ignored the comment as I continued. "Meanwhile, the boys locker room had a poster of a popular boy-band called Tornado. Again, it doesn't fit with the boys locker room." "So you're saying that maybe the posters were switched?" Celeste asked. "And that's not all. You know what I'm talking about, right Sakura?" I asked, turning to her. "You're referring to my protein coffee, aren't you?" "... Protein coffee?" Hifumi asked curiously. "While I was in the girls locker room earlier, I spilled some protein coffee on the carpet. But I noticed that after the murder, the stain had been totally scrubbed away."

"It may appear that way, but it wasn't scrubbed away. Instead..." I pulled out the photo of the boys locker room carpet. "It was moved to boys locker room instead." "That's... definitely the stain from my protein coffee!" Sakura exclaimed. "Then... does that mean that the carpets were switched, too? But... why would anyone do that?" Celeste asked again. "To move the murder scene from one locker room to the other. it's certainly plausible, don't you think?"

"What!?" I hear Taka ask in confusion next to me. "So in other words, in order to completely swap the scene of the crime... The bloodstained poster and carpet were moved along with the dead body." Said Makoto. "Exactly. And by doing this, the killer was able to change the entire room where the murder took place." I said also. "I can certainly follow your reasoning, but... why would the culprit bother doing that?" Celeste asked. "...Hm?" I hummed curiously, turning to her. "Why would they go to all that trouble switching the scene of the crime?" The question she asked next, surprises me.

"Actually, an even bigger question... if the murder did take place in the boys locker room... then how did Chihiro get in the boys locker room in the first place?" I gasped in shock. That never even crossed my mind! Just why would they even go through all that in the first place? "Like you said before. To get into the locker rooms, you have to swipe your e-handbook across the card reader device. But Chihiro's handbook should have only allowed her access to the girls locker room. She had no way to get into the boys locker room to begin with."

She... she might be right. Was I just wrong about it all? But I don't think I have anything else that could contradict what she said. if I can't prove that the scene of the two locker rooms were switched... It might be the end for us all.

To Be Continued...

~~~

Surviving Students: 12


End file.
